S China city faces summer blood shortage

NANNING - Blood shortages have been reported in the city of Nanning in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, as students who typically make up the majority of blood donors are on summer holiday, officials from a local blood donation center said Wednesday.

A recent surge in clinical blood consumption and the absence of student donors are putting pressure on local blood donation centers.

"To meet the demand for clinical blood, we need 400 to 500 donors every day. But we have less than 200," said Jiang Wen, deputy director of the city's blood donation center.

Similar problems have been reported in Beijing and the provinces of Hunan and Yunnan.

At least 1 to 3 percent of a given country's population should donate blood in order to meet basic demand for blood, according to the World Health Organization.

However, less than 1 percent of China's population donates, according to the Ministry of Health.

Some people mistakenly associate blood donation centers with the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC), which was implicated in a 2011 scandal involving Guo Meimei, a woman who claimed to head an organization with RCSC links and posted photos online detailing her lavish lifestyle.

Major cities are facing more severe blood shortages, as people tend to prefer to be treated at hospitals in bigger cities, thus increasing local demand for blood.

Experts have suggested opening blood donation centers to the public and demonstrating how blood is collected, tested and stored in order to improve public awareness and understanding of the donation process.