YANGON, June 17 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's National Blood Center in Yangon provided 438,000 units of blood in 2018, according to a high ranking Myanmar health official.
"Of them, 72 percent was donated by volunteers and 32 percent was used in Yangon," Minister of Health and Sports Dr. Myint Htwe told a ceremony to mark the World Blood Donor Day.
The National Blood Center is supplying enough safe blood for 14 hospitals in Yangon region, acting apart as a source of safe blood for other hospitals of the country, he said.
At the ceremony, certificates of honor for donation of blood for 27 times in a row were presented to 11 volunteers.
This year's World Blood Donor Day was held with the motto "Safe Blood for All" to raise the awareness of the universal need for safe blood in the delivery of healthcare and the crucial role that voluntary donation plays in achieving the goal of universal health.
Meanwhile, Myanmar's Health and Sports Ministry is planning to build a new high security laboratory with a loan from the French Development Agency and a standardized department of public health laboratory science with a loan from the Asian Development Bank.
