The 18th Red Sunday Volunteer Blood Donation Program - 2026 will officially open at Hanoi University of Science and Technology on January 11, opening a series of large-scale blood donation activities nationwide.
The program is chaired by Tien Phong Newspaper, in coordination with the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, the Steering Committee for Voluntary Blood Donation Mobilization, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union of provinces and cities, and many agencies, units, and businesses. This continues to be a key activity to supplement blood for treatment before, during, and after Tet Nguyen Dan - a time when blood transfusion demand is always high.
Journalist Phung Cong Suong - Editor-in-Chief of Tien Phong Newspaper, Head of the Organizing Committee of Red Sunday 2026 said: In 2025, the whole country mobilized and received nearly 1.75 million units of blood, of which 98% was voluntary blood, equivalent to about 1.75% of the population participating in blood donation. Many blood donation campaigns have been effectively and promptly organized, creating strong spillover effects in the community, in which Red Sunday is a typical highlight. Thanks to that, the blood shortage during Tet in recent years is no longer at an alarming level.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Ha Thanh, Director of the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, said that in the first 3 months of 2026, the Institute alone expects to need about 122,000 units of blood to supply more than 180 medical facilities in the Northern region.
Behind the numbers are tens of thousands of patients waiting every day for community support. As long as each person is willing to donate a precious unit of blood, another life will be revived. Red Sunday therefore has a special meaning like a bridge of compassion, connecting charitable hearts with patients who need blood every hour," Mr. Thanh shared.
Red Sunday for the 18th time - 2026 continues to have the companionship of many artists, singers, and beauties, contributing to strongly spreading the humanistic message over the past 18 years. Not only is it a blood donation day, Red Sunday has been and is becoming a symbol of the spirit of sharing, social responsibility and love between people.
