Red Sunday expects to collect 50,000 blood units (Photo: tienphong.vn)

The program, sponsored by Tien Phong Newspaper, the National Traffic Safety Committee, the Central Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, the Steering Committee for Voluntary Blood Donation, and the Youth Union, is taking place in 45 provinces and cities nationwide.

Dozens of armed forces units and businesses have registered to participate in the program. 100,000 participants are expected to donate 45,000 to 50,000 blood units. Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Ha Thanh, Director of the Central Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, said the Red Sunday blood donation program will address the shortage of blood during the upcoming Lunar New Year.

"From now until the Lunar New Year, our Institute needs about 120,000 units of blood and 12,000 units of platelets to meet the emergency and treatment needs of 182 medical facilities in 31 provinces and cities. Red Sunday program will meet a significant portion of this need." said Thanh.

Since early November, events have been held at Ho Chi Minh City University of Architecture and Tan A Dai Thanh factory in Hung Yen province. Early this month, an event of the Red Sunday program was held at Van Hien University by Military Hospital 175 and the Southeast Mobile Police Regiment of Ho Chi Minh City.

Le Xuan Son, Editor-in-Chief of Tien Phong newspaper, said: "The event collected 500 units of blood and 1,200 students registered to donate blood later. With the Red Sunday program, we collected a large amount of blood and promoted the volunteer blood donation movement throughout the country. Red Sunday is a social charity program that Tien Phong newspaper pays special attention to because nothing is more precious than human life."

Launched in 2009, the Red Sunday blood donation program has contributed significantly to the volunteer blood donation movement in Vietnam. Thanks to the program, the lives of tens of thousands of patients have been saved. This year, the Organizing Committee will visit and give gifts to blood recipients in difficult circumstances.