The Ministry of Health and the Central Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion launched a night festival entitled "A drop of blood-A heart" in Hanoi on April 4 in response to the day "All people volunteer to donate blood" on April 7.

In the past few years, humanitarian blood donation movements have received active support and special attention from sectors, agencies, businesses and social organisations throughout the country.

In 2005 alone, 372,300 units of blood were collected to help patients.

With a population of 82 million, Vietnam needs 1.6 million units of blood and a variety of different blood types every year. However, the current amount of collected blood does not yet satisfy demand from patients while blood reserves for accidents and disasters suffer serious shortages.

Addressing the meeting, Vice State President Truong My Hoa called on people across the country to actively participate in blood donation movements for community health.

About 2,000 people have registered to donate their blood at the festival and more than 100 collectives are committed to launching blood donation activities this year.