Nearly 200 people, most of them local and international friends of the staff at the Consulates General of Indonesia, Thailand, Laos and Malaysia, registered to donate their blood to the Red Cross of Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday in District 2.

“By hosting this blood drive together, our sense of solidarity is taken to the next level among the ASEAN community in Ho Chi Minh City for the first time,” said Indonesia Consul General Hanif Salim.

“In the past, we have always organized events separately, but never before have we united to organize an event for our brother nation, Vietnam.

“Therefore, today is a historical moment for all of us as we combine forces and display our strong ASEAN spirit.

“We are now more than just the ASEAN community, we are now blood brothers.”

Traffic accidents are the leading cause of death and injury every year in Vietnam.

In the first nine months of this year, there were 6,000 deaths and 4,000 injuries resulting from traffic accidents, according to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam.

Vietnam’s emergency health services require a total average of 1.8 million blood units for medical treatment every year.

As it stands, only 60 percent of this demand are met - a relatively low figure.

As a result, patients are dying because of the lack of blood available for transfusion.

Studies show that one blood donor can save three people, which means that the nearly 200 blood donors of this event could eventually save over 500 people.

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