Blood donors asked to give despite old myths

Shanghai blood authorities Monday encouraged people to roll up their sleeves for World Blood Donor Day on Thursday to help the city's constant blood shortage, denying that donating to the cause leads to illness or weight gain as suggested by respondents of a recent online poll.

Some 1,500 respondents of an online survey carried out by local media on the weekend showed that 40 percent worried that donating blood causes high blood pressure, while another 30 percent thought it would lead to blood donation addiction, and 20 percent were afraid of becoming fat.　

But Lu Yi, a press officer for Shanghai Blood Administration Office, said Monday that the fears could not be further from the truth and called on local residents to give before the city's blood supply becomes critically low.

"Shanghai's donation rate is 1.26 percent, which is not enough to allow us to cater to basic clinical needs," she told the Global Times Monday. "The current blood shortage means that we're only able to respond to emergencies."

Though Shanghai is worse off than Beijing, where local residents contribute to a blood donor rate of 2.07 percent, the highest in the country, it still fares better than the country as a whole, which struggles with a 0.87-percent rate - just below the 1 percent-threshold cautioned by the World Health Organization.

Qian Kaicheng, director of Shanghai Blood Transfusion Institution, said the problem is that old myths have scared many residents away from giving.

"Traditional Chinese customs believe that individuals should eat a lot and have days of bed rest to 'recover' from blood donation," he told the Global Times Monday. "But, it's not necessary, and only makes people think they're sick while also making them prone to weight gain."

Qian added that while the city has not issued a blood supply shortage at the moment, Shanghai could be in trouble this summer, when student-donors return home.

He said that the city is most in need of donors with blood type A and O. But, Rh negative blood donors are also asked to give, as comparatively few Chinese people have the blood type compared to Caucasians.

Twenty blood donor stations and 25 blood donation vehicles, which open daily across the city year-round will further persuade people to give this week for World Blood Donor Day by offering donors a 5-percent discount on purchases from home appliance retailer Yolo.