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)