With Shanghai's blood banks facing shortages in recent months, Changning District has asked a couple of local soccer stars as well as some regular blood donors to help convince people to roll up their sleeves and give a few liters of plasma.

Given Shanghai's massive population, the city needs to collect about 72 tons of blood from 360,000 people annually. That means about 1,000 people must each donate 200 milliliters of blood every day across the city.

The city's blood supply has dropped to dangerous levels on a few occasions this year, so the municipal government has called on district officials to persuade more people to give.

However, the main problem is convincing people that donating blood is safe.

In order to do that, on March 5, Changning District held a promotional program in the square outside Shanghai Brilliance West Shopping Mall to encourage more people to donate.

The district government asked a pair of young twins who play soccer for Shanghai Shenhua, Sun Ji and Sun Xiang, to talk to youngsters in the area about the importance of giving blood and assure them local facilities are safe.

More than 10 people donated their blood at the event.

"It is worthy to endure some discomfort to bring the hope of life to others," said Tang Zheng, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who has not only donated blood in the past, but also donated stem cells to help a person suffering from leukemia in northeast China.

New national blood laws that were enacted in 1998 have encouraged more people to donate, by convincing them that medical equipment used in the process is sanitary.

"I donated once in current years and did not feel anything uncomfortable with the facilities," said a middle-aged woman surnamed Xu, as she waited to make another donation.

Many others still worry about catching diseases from giving blood. Much of that fear is based on stories about entire villages in Henan Province being infected with AIDS by unlicensed blood collectors.

Other youngsters say their family members don't want them to give blood as they worry it could make them sick.

"I tried to sign the intention letter expressing my willingness to donate part of my stem cells, but my father held me back and said I should be cautious as the domestic medical techniques might not be safe," said a university graduate who wouldn't give her name.

The city is focusing its campaign on young people, to encourage them to donate blood throughout their lives. Many universities have organized group donations to get students into the habit of giving blood before they graduate.

(Shanghai Daily March 14, 2005)