technical assistance project of the safe blood transfusion

Hanoi (VNA) – A technical assistance project of the safe blood transfusion
programme in Vietnam has gained satisfactory results after being implemented at
health services and hospitals nationwide under the sponsorship of Luxembourg in
the 2004-2010 period, said a health ministry official.

Deputy Head of the Health Ministry’s National Institute of Hematology and Blood
Transfusion (NIHBT) Bach Quoc Khanh said the project has provided technical and
professional consultation and financial assistance to his institute in building
technical standards and professional guidance for blood banks and blood
transfusion services.

According to Khanh, under the project, a number of training courses on blood
quality management were held for cadres at the blood transfusion centres and a
programme on screening blood transfusion transmitted diseases was successfully
carried out at more than 20 test labs nationwide.

The project has also mobilised and maintained the number of volunteer blood
donors. In 2009, there were more than 500,000 volunteer blood donors and more
than 132,000 professional blood donors and patients’ relatives.

Vietnam ’s blood transfusion sector will finalise its blood transfusion
system in the 2011-2020 period. It will increase the capability for four new
blood transfusion centres at the NIHBT, the Hue Central Hospital , the
Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City and the Can Tho City Health Department
and establish similar centres in the northern province of Dien Bien, the
central province of Binh Dinh and the Mekong Delta province of Kien
Giang .

The sector will also assist the establishment of the blood transfusion system for
the military and public security sector and organise blood transfusion services
in remote, mountainous and island regions.-Enditem