Appeal for donors as blood runs out

China's Red Cross made an urgent nationwide appeal for blood donors after a sudden shortage halted some surgical operations.

An emergency notice on the agency’s website called for emergency measures, such as blood drives, in Beijing and the provinces.

Health Minister Chen Zhu, along with nearly 500 people from the Ministry of Health, donated blood yesterday to encourage others.

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The demand for blood has increased in recent years as health services improve.

Many Chinese are suspicious of blood drives after tainted blood passed HIV to thousands of people in the 1990s.

This year’s shortage is a first in many years. Blood donations in recent months are down nearly 40 per cent in Beijing.

The sudden drop in clinical blood supplies since this summer has been attributed to a lack of volunteer donors – namely college students and migrant workers.

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Hospitals have had to postpone surgeries and other procedures such as blood transfusions. Officials at local hospitals said blood drives are helping, but more donors are needed.

In recent years, the government has cracked down on often corrupt or unscrupulous private agencies who have collected and supplied blood that caused victims to contract Aids, hepatitis B, hepatitis C or syphilis.

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