An emergency plea from the Beijing Blood Center last week saw the amount of blood donated in Beijing hit a new record at the weekend.

According to statistics from the center, blood donated on Saturday reached 3,115 units (a unit is 200 ml). On Sunday, the tally was 3,090 units.

"I will donate next week, since there is a shortage of blood in Beijing," said Jiao Jian, a 26-year-old Beijinger who works for a financial magazine.

He said he donated blood many times while in college and is now qualified to access blood for free throughout his lifetime, should he need it.

"Although each person's contribution is small, it makes sense for the center to call for the support from more people," he said.

Chen Yangyang, an official from the center, said Beijingers from foreign countries were among the blood donors after it became clear blood was in short supply.

Ardiyasa Dharma Gita, a craniological doctor from Indonesia who has donated blood 15 times in his home country, was among those who gave in the capital on Oct 31 - just three days after his arrival in the city for a medical conference.

He told doctors he had read reports about the blood shortage in China and decided to donate.

"As a doctor, I surely know the anxiety of patients who are waiting for blood to save the lives of their relatives," he said.

"My father and grandfather are Chinese. I wanted to do something for the people here."

Blood is in short supply in other cities and provinces, including Shanxi and Yunnan.

Health Minister Chen Zhu was among those who donated blood on Friday in Beijing. In doing so, he called on healthcare workers to lead by example and also donate.

Nearly 500 people from the ministry and hospitals in Beijing joined Chen in donating. The center erected several blood stations in universities and public sector buildings last weekend to encourage donations.

Thanks to the public response, the center collected about 8,000 400-ml packs of blood, 1,000 packs more than it had in storage the previous week.

However, the number of packs in storage is ordinarily 12,000.

"September and October have not been a busy time for donations in previous years," Zhang said. "But the drop in donations this year during the past two months was beyond our expectations."

Blood donations from the beginning of this year to September increased by 2.9 percent each month but, during the 10 days around the National Day holiday, only 557 donations were recorded in Xidan, about half of the normal number during the same period.

"The supply of blood has not increased in recent years but demand has been climbing," said a doctor surnamed Cui from the General Hospital of the Armed Police Forces.

He said blood use in the hospital increased by 20 percent this year.

(China Daily November 4, 2010)