Blood donation rate rises, shortages remain

China's national blood donation rate has increased to 11.4 donors per 1,000 people, but blood donations decreased year-on-year in 2024 and there remains blood supply shortages, a health official has said.

Gao Guangming, deputy director of the National Health Commission's department of medical emergency response, said that the nation faces ongoing blood shortages due to factors that include a rapidly aging population and lifestyle changes.

"There is a rising demand for blood for clinical use and seasonal, regional and blood-type-specific shortfalls still exist," he said during a news conference held ahead of World Blood Donor Day which is observed annually on June 14.

Gao said that the commission has intensified awareness campaigns, upgraded management systems to monitor blood stocks, and implemented precise, cross-regional blood allocations.

"We have achieved real-time, dynamic management of blood collection, supply, testing and inventory information," he said. "Last year, a total of 3.61 million units of blood were allocated across regions nationwide, including 583,000 units distributed between provinces, that marked a year-on-year increase of 35.1 percent."

Gao added that the nation has expanded the range of blood testing kits and improved testing technologies to prevent the transmission of key infectious diseases through blood transfusions.

"Currently, the nation's overall blood safety level ranks among the highest in the world," he said.

As part of efforts to enhance the sense of fulfillment among voluntary blood donors, the commission released a notice earlier this month to optimize and streamline blood expense reimbursement services for donors and their relatives.

China's law on blood donation states that donors are exempt from blood use fees — costs associated with collecting, processing, storing, transporting and managing blood — to encourage donations.

"In the past, blood donors had to visit blood donation centers or mail materials to apply for blood fee reimbursement, which was not efficient," he said. "To make the process more convenient, especially for those seeking cross-regional reimbursement, we have rolled out the policy."

Gao said that the commission has established an online platform to save the trouble of visiting offline institutions. "So far, the platform has handled over 10,000 such requests," he said.

The commission aims to implement the policy nationwide across all blood inventories and medical institutions by the end of this year.