RURAL areas in China are facing a shortage of blood and the spread of diseases through blood transfusions, a top official of the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) said yesterday.
Secretary-general Li Changming admitted some backward areas in the country were facing the risk of the spreading of diseases such as hepatitis in blood transfusions as medical services were not sophisticated enough to check the quality of donated blood.
Some places also saw a shortage of blood in hospitals as rural people were bound by traditional concepts that blood donation was harmful to their health, he said.
'They believe that blood is very precious to them and that blood donation is bad to their health,' said Mr Li, who began a three-day visit to Hong Kong yesterday.
Even in cities, the number of voluntary blood donors was tiny and the Government had to mobilise 'obligatory blood donation' in government institutions, he added.
In China, 'obligatory' donors are liable to receive a 'nutrition fee' while volunteers, like most of their counterparts in other countries, give their blood with no monetary benefit.