"Donate a bag of blood, save a persons life" is a very familiar slogan publicizing the need for blood donors. Whats needed, though, is not just to get out and donate blood in a burst of enthusiasm, but to keep doing it over and over again with stubborn perseverance. Twenty nine hospitals under the DOH conducted a joint blood drive during March and April. A blood donation van visited all the hospitals; wherever it went, large numbers of people started rolling up their sleeves in preparation for giving blood. Hospital personnel donated a total of 451,500 cc of blood (1,806 bags). This response strengthened the hospitals "compassionate and life-saving" organizational culture. In order to commend the donors for their acts of charity and compassion, the DOH held a press conference for the DOH Hospital Joint Charitable Blood Drive and Champion Blood Donor Award on April 18. Health Minister Sheng-mou Hou personally gave out awards to "champion blood donors" selected by the hospitals in recognition of their big-hearted spirit.
In accordance with 2006 statistics from the Taiwan Blood Service Foundation, people throughout Taiwan donated blood a total of 1,720,999 person-times in 2005 and the blood donation rate was 7.57%. Since people donated blood 1,780,735 person-times in 2004, and the blood donation rate was 7.87%, there has been a decrease in blood donations. According to Health Minister Sheng-mou Hou, hospitals frequently encounter blood shortages. Hou therefore appealed to hospital personnel to see personally donating blood, as long as their physical condition permits, as a kind of "internal environmental" activity aimed at serving the public. Donating blood promotes healthy metabolism in the donor, and can save the lives of sick and injured recipients. At the press conference, Minister Hou accepted an honorary blood donor card from Taiwan Blood Service Foundation Chairman Kuo-sin Lin on behalf of the DOH, and also thanked the participating hospitals for their commitment and dedication to the blood drive.
"Champion blood donors" selected by the DOH hospitals were also recognized at the press conference. Yu-tsang Wang of the Jianan Mental Hospitals General Affairs Office was the overall champion thanks to his donation of 49,750 cc of blood on 199 occasions. And besides donating his own blood, Wang also heads a family of five enthusiastic blood donors. The female champion was nurse Ching-hui Lin of the Hengchun Branch of Pingtung Hospital; Lin had donated 19,500 cc. When his wife encountered severe bleeding while giving birth many years ago, Laboratory Department director Chi-cheng Huang of Potz Hospital vowed that, as long as his wife could safely give birth, he would donate blood. Huang has donated 23,500 cc thus far. Other individuals who donated more than 20,000 cc included Li Yi-an of the Civil Service Ethics Office at Penghu Hospital and Chu Chun-yen of the Information Management Office at Fong-Yuan Hospital.
According to Shoei-Loong Li, chief executive officer of the DOH Hospital Management Commission, DOH hospitals are starting to make blood drives regular events. Apart from hospital personnel, doctors are also participating actively in blood drives. Superintendent Chin-lin Perng of Ilan Hospital donated 12,000 cc of blood. Although knowing that his body is a sacred gift of his parents, and should not be harmed, Perng expressed that his awareness as a doctor of the importance of blood in saving patients lives has motivated him to give blood on a regular basis. Furthermore, Dr. Tzung-lin Chen, director of the Family Medicine Department at Shinyin Hospital, first donated blood at the age of 16 together with his like-minded classmates. Although he worried that donating blood would be hazardous when he was studying practically around-the-clock at school, he later continued to donate blood, and now has donated a cumulative total of 18,000 cc. Health Minister Sheng-mou Hou also noted his hope that the recognition of champion blood donors would encourage the public to participate in blood drives and benefit themselves and others.
See attachments for further information:
DOH Hospitals Give Blood to Save Lives.pdf