In a bid to encourage more people to engage in voluntary blood donations, blood donors and their relatives can use blood free of charge, announced the National Health Commission (NHC), the
Beijing Youth Daily reported.
According to the NHC, the expenses of blood donors in terms of blood use are advanced by medical institutions, and the personal information of blood donors can be found in the online recording system of all medical institutions.
China's blood donations have experienced three processes: paid, obligatory and unpaid. And in the recent two decades, China has seen growth in voluntary blood donations, from around 300,000 in 1998 to nearly 15 million in 2018, an official with the NHC announced in June.
Yet, there is still not sufficient blood in medical institutions, said He Yonghai, a commentator for the Shanghai-based news portal Eastday.com. This is because ordinary people do not have the awareness of voluntary blood donations, and they even have wrong ideas about blood donations, like they could be exposed to infectious diseases. Also, many blood donors think they cannot use blood when they are in hospital, and meanwhile, they need to pay expensive fees of using blood.
The most desirable reward for blood donors is that they and their relatives are given priority for blood use and cost reduction in times of emergency. If blood is available free of charge for all unpaid blood donors, it is a good way to motivate more people to donate, He added.
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