bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Emily Tsang

The Hong Kong Red Cross will not provide blood to mainland hospitals, the organisation said after internet users on a popular internet forum urged the public to boycott blood donations.
Discussions on Golden Forum suggested it was suspicious of the organisation to announce a shortage for the third time this year and suspected it would send its supply of local blood to the mainland.
But the Red Cross clarified that its appeals were necessary, contending the lack of blood donations in the city stemmed from a prolonged flu season and more would-be donors being found unfit.
Hong Kong cannot send back asylum seekers, says top Red Cross official
Recent extreme weather and examination periods for school children also meant there was a dip in the number of volunteers.
The organisation said it needed an average of 1,100 donors a day, in order to supply around 800 bags of blood to the city’s public hospitals.
“All the blood collected from our service supply is for local use,” said Dr Lee Cheuk-kwong, a consultant of Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service.
Typically about 10 per cent of new blood donors were unfit to donate due to their low blood pressure or lack of haemoglobin, the latter a result of poor eating and living habits.
Bringing war to Hong Kong: Red Cross experience aims to show local youngsters the horrors of violent conflict
In addition, those who displayed flu symptoms would not be allowed to donate, and a long flu period this year starting in January rendered fewer people qualified.
The Red Cross was also unable to send outreach teams to secondary schools to carry out blood donation campaigns due to the Diploma of Secondary Education examination periods, Lee said.
The group predicted a total of 244,000 bags of blood and 18,300 bags of platelets would be needed to meet local hospitals’ demand this year.
It issued an urgent appeal for blood on January 19, April 6 and April 29, saying low inventories had reached an alarming level.
Panama Papers law firm secretly used name of Red Cross to help hide money
However, internet users on Golden Forum raised their suspicions concerning the Red Cross, a non-government humanitarian organisation embroiled in a money donation scandal in China, and it urged the public to stop donating.
In a discussion generating over 100 comments, a user who claimed to be a regular donor said he would now stop.
Another said: “Hong Kong Red Cross has a very complex relationship with its mainland counterpart. I am very suspicious about where the blood goes.”
But many users said a boycott would mean there would not be enough blood to save themselves or their loved ones.
Lee rejected the suspicions. “None of our blood will supply other places,” he said. “A majority of it goes to public hospitals, usually for elderly people.”


Bad blood? Hong Kong Red Cross clarifies it won’t provide locally donated blood to mainland China

Bad blood? Hong Kong Red Cross clarifies it won’t provide locally donated blood to mainland China

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Suspicions rampant on popular internet forum following three urgent appeals

Suspicions rampant on popular internet forum following three urgent appeals