Letters | Blood donation needles are safe, but this needs pointing out to the older generation

Besides the misconceptions regarding blood donation mentioned by Ms Wong, there are other factors that we have to consider.

For example: the much more conservative older generation who are against their children donating blood, for fear that the needle used for collecting the blood is not one-time use only, and may be contaminated.

I remember that during my school years in the 1990s, my secondary school had a blood donation day each year, and the first time I came across it was when I was in Secondary 3.

Blood donors flood Red Cross centres in Hong Kong to help 40 injured victims of fatal bus crash

However, no matter how much I wanted to participate in that meaningful activity in school the next day, my mother objected to signing the consent form for fear that the needle may be contaminated, as she was not sure whether the needle used by the Red Cross would be discarded after one use.