Volunteers donate blood at the 2018 Red Spring. (Photo: Duong Ngoc/ VNA)

The Red Spring festival, the year’s largest blood donation drive, was launched by the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion in 2008, and expanded nationwide in 2010. The movement has helped ensure Vietnam’s blood supply, while raising public awareness of the importance of blood donations.

Over the past 11 years, more than 70,500 units of blood have been donated in Hanoi.