CRI听力:Blood Shortage

Blood donations in Beijing saw a year-on-year increase from 125 tons in 2008 to 135.6 tons in 2009 and 142 tons in 2010. But this year, Beijing faces a 40-percent shortage, and levels for all four blood types are now listed as "critical." The Beijing Red Cross Blood Center says it's the greatest shortage it has seen in recent years.

What are people's attitudes towards donating blood? Why have some stopped donating it?

"I am concerned about the sanitary conditions of donating blood. I also have doubts about the channel of blood usage."

"I can't get on the bus to donate my blood when the bus only has a sticker on it saying 'Blood Donations.' What if it's a fake one? I will only donate blood in regular hospitals."

"If my blood is used to make a profit, I will definitely not donate it any more. I donate without compensation, but they sell it to make money. I hope related government departments as well as social service organizations can improve in this regard."

Sina.com recently conducted an online survey to find out why people hesitate to donate blood. Nearly half of the 6,800 respondents said they were concerned that their blood would be used to make money, while 21.7 percent said they were afraid that donating blood spread diseases. This result indicated a lack of public information about legitimate blood collections and a lack of transparency in the blood-donation process.

Many people ask why they should donate blood for free when hospitals charge patients for it.

Tian Xihui, spokesperson of the Beijing Red Cross Blood Center, explains.

"Hepatitis A, B & C, HIV/AIDS, gonorrhea, transaminase, and blood types: Testing includes many items. And we will have cross-matching as well as other tests before it's used. Therefore the money the patients paid is the fee for these tests."

China's blood donation law specifies that blood costs be broken down into two parts, one based on the daily operational costs of blood donation centers, and the other based on blood tests and storage in hospitals. According to the law, a donor as well as his or her relatives can receive an amount of blood that is the same or greater than the amount that he or she has donated. But blood donors sometimes find it difficult to get a payback if they donate blood in one place and use it in another one.

Tian says that precautions taken during the donation process should dispel concerns about blood donation safety and sanitary issues.

"First of all, we conduct a medical consultation to exclude people who are not eligible to donate blood, and then we do a preliminary test to examine whether the blood is good. After the blood comes back to the center, we do a comprehensive blood test that covers twice as many items as the preliminary one."

A scandal involving the China Red Cross Society earlier this year increased public distrust of social service organizations. The deputy director of the society said that three days of the scandal had ruined the reputation of an organization that had a 100-year history.

However, the Beijing Red Cross Blood Center, also known as the Beijing Blood Center, has no links to the China Red Cross Society.

Winter is typically a slow time for blood donations. But this year, the situation is even worse. Only when the public trust in blood donation centers is restored will people be willing to donate blood once again.

For CRI, I'm Wang Jing.