Shanghai residents encouraged to donate blood

Residents in Shanghai are being encouraged to give blood to ease insufficient supply in the city.

So far, the blood donation rate in Shanghai is 1.26 percent of the population, narrowly above the one percent minimum warning line set by the World Health Organization. Below this minimum level, blood donations can only meet the basic needs of emergencies and first aid, according to the Shanghai Blood Administration Office.

The 1.26 percent donation rate is a far cry from meeting clinical use in the city, and patients with rare blood types such as Rh negative often have to wait longer, an official said.

“In hospitals, some surgeries have to be scheduled based on the availability of blood,” an official from the Shanghai Blood Administration Office said.

In recent years, the city has made a series of activities and public health education events to encourage more blood donation.

During this year's World Blood Donor Day on June 14, more than 3,000 people from different walks of life in Shanghai were awarded the prizes for giving blood.

The Shanghai Blood Administration Office had also recruited a team of volunteers with rare blood types in the city to overcome the problem of emergency blood shortage for rare blood types.