Beijing has terminated nine-year-old blood donation
quotas, bringing an end to imposed blood donation drives in the
capital, according to a decision by the local legislature on March
28.
The 26th meeting of the Standing Committee of the
12th Beijing Municipal People's Congress, the local legislature,
scrapped the Regulations on Mobilizing and Organizing Beijing
Citizens to Donate Blood, which took effect in 1998, on
Tuesday.
The 1998 regulations encouraged voluntary blood
donations and at the same time urged governments at various levels
to set blood donation quotas for social institutions and work units
in the city.
Stipulations encouraging voluntary blood donations
continue to be effective, said Jiang Jingbo, deputy head of the
Education, Science, Culture, Health and Sports office of the
Standing Committee of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress.
Blood donations by volunteers have risen in recent
years, according to statistics from the Beijing Municipal Health
Bureau. 64 million cc of blood was donated last year compared with
2.8 million cc in 2000.
"The amount of blood donated by volunteers has
increased by 45,000 bags annually over the past five years and is
expected to surge even more over the next few years," said Jing
Dapeng, director of Beijing Municipal Health Bureau, who added that
he was confident donated blood supplies could meet demands in
Beijing.
Beijing's clinical demand for blood ranks the first
in the country as many patients with serious illnesses come here
for treatment.
Local health bureau statistics show that Beijing's
clinical use of blood rose to 84 million cc last year from 53.6
million cc in 1998, a rise of 56.7 percent. Of the 53.6 million cc
of blood used in clinical treatments in 1998, only 360,000 cc came
from voluntary donations, according to local media reports.
Currently, Beijing's annual clinical demand for
blood stands at 84 million cc and voluntary donations accounted for
about 76 percent of supplies of blood last year.
Beijing is considering setting up a voluntary
donation team, consisting of 40,000 to 50,000 volunteers, to make
up the shortfall, said Shi Weiwei, deputy head of Beijing Municipal
Blood Donation Office.
The group of volunteers will include army men,
college students and employees of government departments, social
institutions and commercial businesses, Shi said.
China's Law of Blood Donation, which came into
effect on October 1, 1998, encourages voluntary blood donation.
Voluntary donation is believed to be the safest way
to obtain blood. Experts say viruses like HIV and hepatitis are
unlikely to be transmitted through this means.
To encourage voluntary donations, Beijing is
considering granting preferential treatment to those who have
previously donated blood should they themselves need a blood
transfusion.
(Xinhua News Agency March 30, 2006)