CONTEXT: To establish and maintain a stable blood supply to meet the national need, many countries require considerably more willing blood donors donating blood than they currently have. Issues related to voluntary blood donation in Vietnam have not yet been studied.
AIMS: This study investigated the awareness, attitude, and intentions of voluntary blood donors in Vietnam during the COVID‑19 pandemic.
SETTINGS AND DESIGN: A cross‑sectional study design was used.
SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This study recruited 202 participants, selected by convenience sampling in a voluntary blood donation campaign conducted in Vietnam on July 20, 2021.
STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: Data were analyzed using SPSS version 20.0. Descriptive statistics, Chi‑square, or Fisher’s exact test (as appropriate) were used.
RESULTS: Most participants had a high intention, positive attitude, and high motivation toward voluntary blood donation during the COVID‑19 pandemic (overall median: 5 (4, 5), 5 (4, 5), and 4.5 (4, 5), respectively). The key barriers preventing voluntary blood donors included difficulty getting through epidemic checkpoints (53.0%) and fearing the risk of COVID‑19 infection (53.5%).
CONCLUSIONS: The awareness of blood donation in Vietnam is still high despite the complication of the pandemic. Therefore, policy‑makers need to implement appropriate blood donation measures, such as mobile blood donation vehicles to remove barriers to participation with the goal of improving the effectiveness of blood donation campaigns.