LCQ13: Blood donation services of the Hong Kong Red Cross

     Following is a question by Reverend Canon the Hon Peter Douglas Koon and a written reply by the Secretary for Health, Professor Lo Chung-mau, in the Legislative Council today (July 17):

Question:

     It is learnt that the blood inventories of the Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service have from time to time been depleted to very low levels in recent years. There are views that with the continued ageing of the population in Hong Kong, the demand for blood supply is expected to be on a continuous rise given the substantial healthcare needs. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council if it knows:

(1) the total blood collection and the total quantities of blood used by various public and private hospitals across the territory in each of the past five years;

(2) the respective total number of blood donors, percentage of the total number of blood donors in the population within the blood donation age bracket in Hong Kong, and percentage of the total number of regular donors in the population within the blood donation age bracket in Hong Kong in each of the past five years (with a breakdown by age group and gender);

(3) the respective total number of blood donors, total number of first-‍time blood donors, and total number of blood donors who had donated blood twice or more at various donor centres in each month of the past five years (with a breakdown by age group and gender);

(4) the total number of visits made by the Hong Kong Red Cross to (a) secondary schools and (b) tertiary institutions under the School Blood Donation Campaign in each of the past five years and, in such visits, the respective total numbers of (i) first-time blood donors and (ii) non-first-time blood donors; and

(5) the total number of visits made by the mobile blood donation vehicles of the Hong Kong Red Cross to different locations across the territory in each of the past five years and, in such visits, the respective total numbers of first-time blood donors and non-first-time blood donors?

Reply:

President,

     The Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service (BTS) began to promote voluntary blood donation in Hong Kong since 1952. Under the management of the Hospital Authority (HA) since 1991, the BTS provides blood to all hospitals in Hong Kong for use by patients, and continues to be the only institution supplying blood in Hong Kong.

     As the population ages and the demand for healthcare services continues to rise, the demand for blood is also increasing.  However, blood collection efforts are intermittently affected by unforeseen factors, such as the COVID-19 epidemic in recent years, occasional bad weather and changes in travel habits of the public, all of which reduce the public's willingness to donate blood. In view of the above, the BTS actively encourages the public to join the league of blood donors on all fronts and through various initiatives, including introducing a range of medals and certificates to commend supportive donors who have participated in blood donation drives; designing a variety of practical souvenirs based on the mascot Captain Blood; encouraging private enterprises to arrange for their employees to participate in blood donation drives during working hours when mobile blood donation teams (MBDT) or mobile blood donation vehicles (MBDV) visit; and continuously developing more communication channels to strengthen ties with blood donors and the general public.

     The Government and the HA will continue to support the work of the BTS and also call on members of the public, enterprises and organisations to fully support and participate in blood donation drives and donate blood regularly. Endeavoured to provide a stable and safe blood supply to hospitals, the BTS has set up blood donor centres (BDC) across the city and dispatches MBDT and MBDV to visit various districts in the city, offering convenience to the public to donate blood.

     In consultation with the HA, the consolidated reply to the question raised by Reverend Canon the Hon Peter Douglas Koon is as follows:

(1) The annual total blood collection in Hong Kong in the past five years is set out in the table below, with over 90 per cent of the blood collected being used in public hospitals:
 

  Total blood collection in Hong Kong
(Unit)
2019 227 334
2020 204 808
2021 210 863
2022 204 573
2023 210 103

(2) Over the past five years, the respective total number of blood donors, percentage of the total number of blood donors among Hong Kong’s population within the blood donation age bracket, percentage of the total number of regular donors among Hong Kong’s population within the blood donation age bracket, and number of blood donations (with a breakdown by gender and age group) are set out below:
 

  No. of blood donors Hong Kong's population within the blood donation age bracket
(Note 1)
Total no. of blood donors among Hong Kong's population within the blood donation age bracket
(%)
Total no. of regular blood donors among Hong Kong’s population within the blood donation age bracket
(%)
2019 146 200 6 099 700 2.40% 1.90%
2020 121 740 6 022 800 2.02% 1.71%
2021 121 222 6 002 400 2.02% 1.68%
2022 119 967 6 067 200 1.98% 1.64%
2023 124 503 6 070 300 2.05% 1.69%

Number of blood donations (by gender)
 

  No. of blood donations by male
(%)
No. of blood donations by female
(%)
2019 119 781
(52.69%) 
107 553
(47.31%)
2020 108 623
(53.04%)
96 185
(46.96%) 
2021 111 233
(52.75%)
99 630
(47.25%) 
2022 109 273
(53.42%)
95 300
(46.58%)
2023 112 984
(53.78%)
97 118
(46.22%)

Number of blood donations (by age group)
 

  No. of
blood
donations
by aged
 16-20
(%)
No. of
blood
donations
by aged
21-30
 (%)
No. of
blood
donations
by aged
31-40
(%)
No. of
blood
donations
by aged
41-50
(%)
No. of
blood
donations
by aged
51-60
(%)
No. of
blood
donations
by aged
61-70
(%)
No. of
blood
donations
by aged
>70
(%)
2019 22 239
(9.78%)
48 587
(21.37%)
53 222
(23.41%)
54 430
(23.94%)
39 049
(17.18%)
9 692
(4.26%)
115
(0.05%)
2020 10 266
(5.01%)
37 845
(18.48%)
50 593
(24.70%)
55 021
(26.86%)
39 825
(19.45%)
11 078
(5.41%)
180
(0.09%)
2021 10 113
(4.80%)
34 320
(16.28%)
49 037
(23.26%)
58 436
(27.71%)
44 536
(21.12%)
14 134
(6.70%)
287
(0.14%)
2022 8 896
(4.35%)
29 878
(14.61%)
45 442
(22.21%)
58 610
(28.65%)
46 839
(22.90%)
14 605
(7.14%)
303
(0.15%)
2023 11 098
(5.28%)
29 155
(13.88%)
45 474
(21.64%)
60 441
(28.77%)
48 502
(23.08%)
15 053
(7.16%)
379
(0.18%)

(3) In the past five years, the total monthly blood donations by first-time blood donors and the blood donors who have given blood twice or more, which at the respective BDC, MBDT and MBDV are set out in the following tables:
 

2019
 
No. of blood donations by first-time blood donors No. of blood donations by blood donors who have given blood twice or more
(Note 2)
BDC MBDT MBDV BDC MBDT MBDV
January 864  1 941  38  12 632  2 162  327
February  1 226  1 292  24  14 305  1 947  148
March  1 140  1 356  16  14 405  2 921  95
April  843  880  76  13 065  2 483  284
May  1 015  983  49  13 590  2 752  168
June  998  622  92  13 578  2 957  294
July  946  660  60  12 408  2 808  344
August  1 131  1 129  99  13 612  2 979  478
September  796  1 493  132  12 601  3 181  588
October  908  2 685  135  13 226  3 141  379
November  2 096  1 862  71  15 460  2 024  262
December  782  1 462  135  13 053  1 964  676

 

2020
 
No. of blood donations by first-time blood donors No. of blood donations by blood donors who have given blood twice or more
(Note 2)
BDC MBDT MBDV BDC MBDT MBDV
January 819 1 365 96  11 958  1 678  522
February 1 381 124 75  16 617  426  622
March 974 252 107  12 902  883  623
April 843 107 87  13 091  556  595
May 1 229 225 177  15 652  1 019  661
June 1 378 431 109  15 995  1 575  564
July 888 149 59  10 826  932  365
August 1 615 32 103  16 342  179  841
September 725 151 105  12 235  723  543
October 779 834 70  13 834  1 457  513
November 896 1 443 92  14 181  1 247  350
December 917 226 120  13 967  881  470

 

2021
 
No. of blood donations by first-time blood donors No. of blood donations by blood donors who have given blood twice or more
(Note 2)
BDC MBDT MBDV BDC MBDT MBDV
January 889 84 107 14 149 439 493
February 1 728 246 110 18 456 1 480 675
March 1 131 402 65 14 147 1 313 344
April 808 169 119 12 229 1 193 490
May 839 400 99 13 121 1 117 406
June 1 133 360 136 15 490 1 442 502
July 986 280 78 12 685 1 501 297
August 928 393 90 13 683 1 772 369
September 935 630 101 13 814 1 864 552
October 1 094 1 386 223 13 014 1 681 311
November 948 1 410 195 13 345 1 249 345
December 909 1 066 116 14 369 1 477 456

 

2022
 
No. of blood donations by first-time blood donors No. of blood donations by blood donors who have given blood twice or more
(Note 2)
BDC MBDT MBDV BDC MBDT MBDV
January 905 358 111 12 853 1 046 478
February 1 709 241 86 14 857 959 496
March 756 97 108 11 421 549 635
April 1 050 106 165 15 861 633 714
May 1 091 392 123 13 897 1 394 551
June 1 135 475 115 13 643 1 875 515
July 1 029 343 141 13 424 1 443 415
August 907 488 57 12 146 1 853 436
September 824 611 168 13 605 1 261 363
October 1 100 1 066 251 15 042 1 701 404
November 730 974 188 10 731 843 412
December 1 371 856 124 16 233 1 135 498

 

2023
 
No. of blood donations by first-time blood donors No. of blood donations by blood donors who have given blood twice or more
(Note 2)
BDC MBDT MBDV BDC MBDT MBDV
January 1 237 645 162 13 628 1 034 463
February 1 420 1 052 131 14 445 921 507
March 1 123 1 042 244 13 820 1 369 381
April 649 607 86 12 274 1 440 406
May 1 447 792 123 15 927 1 513 500
June 977 438 103 13 868 1 984 456
July 921 537 104 12 664 1 861 500
August 816 418 118 12 865 1 948 531
September 801 472 131 13 938 1 872 406
October 769 884 209 13 521 1 220 374
November 728 1 014 225 12 919 1 407 335
December 839 610 167 15 048 1 217 499

     For information on the age group and gender of blood donors, please refer to the reply to part (2) of the question above.
 
(4) In the past five years, the total number of visits to secondary schools and tertiary institutions under the School Blood Donation Campaign, as well as the total number of donations during these visits by first-time blood donors and blood donors who have given blood twice or more are listed as follows:
 
Secondary Schools
 

  No. of visits by MBDT or MBDV of the BTS No. of registrations No. of successful blood donations No. of blood donations by first-time blood donors No. of blood donations by blood donors who have given blood twice or more
2019 286 17 898 13 414 7 273 6 141
2020 110 (Note 3) 5 742 4 442 2 237 2 205
2021 131 (Note 3) 5 942 4 744 2 482 2 262
2022 112 (Note 3) 4 688 3 756 2 048 1 708
2023 171 7 588 5 803 3 722 2 081

Tertiary Institutions
 

  No. of visits by MBDT or MBDV of the BTS No. of registrations No. of successful blood donations No. of blood donations by first-time blood donors No. of blood donations by blood donors who have given blood twice or more
2019 60 4 042 2 887 1 009 1 878
2020 9 (Note 3) 439 318 81 237
2021 38 (Note 3) 2 067 1 664 657 1 007
2022 46(Note 3) 2 407 1 977 1 143 834
2023 73 3 580 2 821 1 349 1 472

(5) In the past five years, the annual total number of visits by the MBDV of the BTS to different locations as well as the number of donations by first-time blood donors and blood donors who have given blood twice or more during these visits are tabulated below:
 
 

  No. of days of visits Parking points No. of blood donations by first-time blood donors No. of blood donations by blood donors who have given blood twice or more
2019 157 (Note 4) 32 927 4 043
2020 314 30 1 200 6 669
2021 303 58 1 439 5 240
2022 327 62 1 637 5 917
2023 317 95 1 803 5 358

 
Note 1: The BTS accepts blood donations from people aged 16-75. This population data in this part is extracted from the information of the Census and Statistics Department.
 
Note 2: Donors who have donated blood twice or more include donors of apheresis donation. Donors of apheresis donation may donate blood more than once a month, so the figures in the table are the number of blood donations.
 
Note 3: The number of visits by MBDT and MBDV to secondary schools and tertiary institutions decreased due to the suspension of classes during the COVID-19 epidemic.
 
Note 4: In April 2019, the BTS introduced a new MBDV to increase the quantity of blood collection.