A recovered coronavirus patient from Huanan seafood market holds a certificate for blood donation while donating plasma at Wuhan Blood Center in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province, Feb 17, 2020. [Xinhua/Cai Yang]

China's blood emergency supply capacity has been continuously ramped up thanks to the establishment of a national-level blood guarantee mechanism and strengthened management in blood allocation.

The number of blood donations from voluntary unpaid donors soared from 328,000 in 1998 to a staggering 15.53 million in 2020, an increase of 47 times, according to statistics recently released by the National Health Commission (NHC).

Guo Yanhong, an inspector with the NHC, disclosed that with the establishment of a voluntary blood donation system in China, a total of 452 blood banks have now been built across the country.

In addition to the rapid rise in unpaid blood donations, the rate of voluntary blood donations also increased — from 4.8 per thousand in 1998 to 11.1 per thousand in 2020. Moreover, the past five years have seen the volume of voluntary blood collected and the number of unpaid blood donations jump by 17 percent and 17.9 percent respectively compared with five years earlier.

China's emergency blood supply capability has been continuously strengthened, said Guo, adding that during the fight against COVID-19, 12 provinces delivered blood to Hubei Province, the former epicenter of the epidemic, nearly 60 times, sending a total of 13.93 million milliliters and providing a solid guarantee for the anti-epidemic efforts.

Furthermore, China's level of informatization in blood management and donor services has been continuously improved. According to Guo, in 2019, China established and launched the national blood management information system, which realized the dynamic management and interconnection of information on blood collection, supply, testing, deployment, inventory and blood donor data of 452 blood banks across the country.

"The epidemic had little impact on voluntary blood donations in China," Guo revealed, adding that from January to April this year, the number of unpaid blood donations nationwide reached 5.119 million, with 8.845 million units of blood donation, an increase of 4 percent and 4.5 percent respectively over the same period in 2019.

Since June, the national blood stock has been sufficient for more than 12 days of use, higher than the seven-day safety line, while the platelet inventory can be used for roughly 2.2 days, higher than the one-day safety line, according to the test results of the national blood management information system. 

(Source: People's Daily Online)