Taiwan has the highest rate of blood donation among all the countries in Asia, the Taiwan Blood Services Foundation said yesterday.
Foundation chairman Lin Kuo-hsin (林國信) said that people donated a total of 2.39 million 250ml bags of blood last year, representing a donation rate of 7.86 percent, a figure that tops all other countries in Asia.
Donors with the blood type O positive accounted for 43.56 percent of the total number last year — the highest percentage of donors that year among the different blood groups, the foundation said.
BLOOD DRIVE
The foundation held a carnival-style blood drive on Sunday at its six blood centers around the country in observance of World Blood Donor Day, which is marked annually on June 14.
Lin said that millions of people around the world owe their lives to individuals they will never meet — people who donate their blood to help others.
To drive home the message that blood donation is not limited by borders, Lin said, the foundation invited five foreign donors to tell their stories.
A slender woman from the US who has been in Taiwan for the last 25 years and teaches English at National Taiwan University, said she was not allowed to donate blood in the US because of her weight, but could do so in Taiwan because she meets the minimum weight requirement of 45kg.
A French professor at Tamkang University said he began donating blood at the age of 19, and that after he got married and had children in Taiwan, he continued to donate blood as a way of showing his love for the country.
A Japanese woman, who has been living in Taiwan for nine years, said that giving blood is good for the health of the donor, in addition to the obvious value to the recipients.
‘ONE FAMILY’
An Indian man from Mumbai who has lived in Taiwan for 30 years said he has given blood in Taiwan “too many times to remember.”
He said it was amazing that God had created people of different nationalities but given them all the same blood types so they could share.
“Whether American, French, Japanese, or Taiwanese, the people on Earth are one family,” he said.
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
ECONOMIC BENEFITS: The imports from Belize would replace those from Honduras, whose shrimp exports have dropped 67 percent since cutting ties in 2023 Maintaining ties with Taiwan has economic benefits, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials said yesterday, citing the approval of frozen whiteleg shrimp imports from Belize by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an example. The FDA on Wednesday approved the tariff-free imports from Belize after the whiteleg shrimp passed the Systematic Inspection of Imported Food, which would continue to boost mutual trade, the ministry said. Taiwan’s annual consumption of whiteleg shrimps stands at 30,000 tonnes, far exceeding domestic production, the ministry said. Taiwan used to fill the gap by importing shrimps from Honduras, but purchases slumped after Tegucigalpa severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan
RSS