The Indian Business Chamber in Vietnam (INCHAM) is encouraging both expats and Vietnamese to join the Blood Donation Camp 2015 in Ho Chi Minh City in the middle of this month.

The event, to be organized in cooperation with the Ho Chi Minh City Red Cross, will take place from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm on August 16 at the Youth Culture House, at 4 Pham Ngoc Thach Street, District 1.

The INCHAM is a body that represents Indian businesses in Vietnam.

Besides business promotion activities, the INCHAM also holds various charity and cultural exchange events in the Southeast Asian country, such as the Blood Donation Camp.

“By organizing the blood drive, we are trying to contribute our bit and to spread the positive message to donate blood. We consider donating blood is a social responsibility; it is a healthy practice and a profound gesture, wherein one can make a difference between life and death,” the INCHAM said Thursday in a press release.

“We realize that every moment someone in distress needs blood. She or he may be a cancer patient, someone who needs the vital fluid after childbirth/surgery, or a victim of an accident. Unfortunately, many such patients are not lucky to receive blood in time, with potentially fatal consequences,” the release reads. 

The Ho Chi Minh City Red Cross says that those eligible to donate blood must be in good health, weighs at least 45kg, and is 18 years or older.

Donating blood has many proven health benefits, as it is linked to a reduction in heart attack rates and cholesterol levels, and regular blood donation also reduces the risk of cancer, according to the Ho Chi Minh City Red Cross.

Besides these, it also offers the donors a chance for free health screening and blood testing for some major maladies, which are potentially fatal, the society said.

The Ho Chi Minh City Red Cross will issue a donor card and undertake to give an equal amount of blood donated free of charge in a situation where the donor needs it, and this card does not have any time limitation.

The INCHAM said that to make this important humanitarian initiative a great success, both expats and Vietnamese should participate in it and persuade their colleagues, friends and family members to donate blood as well.

The 2014 blood drive, also held by the INCHAM in collaboration with the Ho Chi Minh City Red Cross, was attended by over 300 donors, including Indians, other expats, and their Vietnamese friends. 

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