Hundreds of students join Valentine’s day blood drive
The National Blood Transfusion Center (NBTC) on Friday took Valentine’s Day as an opportunity to call on students to “show love” by donating blood, a drive that collected 400 units of blood. “On [Valentine’s Day] we are all willing to show our love by donating blood to help victims who need blood,” Hok Kimcheng, NBTC director, said on Friday during the national blood drive at Preah Ang Duong Hospital in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district. Last year, the NBTC received about 50,353 donations, but as most Cambodians are still reluctant to give blood, usually due to the belief that it weakens the body, only 35 percent of these donations are from simple volunteers. The remaining 65 percent, Dr. Kimcheng said, had to be provided by direct family members. “On average, we need about 80 to 100 units per day in Phnom Penh and about 150 units in the countryside…. We can only guarantee to have enough blood… because relatives also donate,” he said. … The World Health Organization recommends that 100 percent of blood transfusions stem from volunteers, a goal Cambodia hopes to reach by 2020. …
Khy Sovuthy
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/hundreds-of-students-join-valentines-day-blood-drive-52320/
