By Su Chin-feng, Liao Hsueh-ju and Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporters, with staff writerBlood donation centers nationwide are boosting their efforts to encourage donations as Taiwan faces a shortage in blood supplies. The nation is short on all types of blood, but supplies are especially low for types A and O, Wu Meng-ta (吳孟達), the head of the Taichung Blood Center’s donor recruitment section, said on Saturday. People are also unlikely to donate blood during next month’s nine-day Lunar New Year holiday, so the center is hosting blood drives to stockpile nine days’ worth of blood supplies before the holiday begins, Wu added. The Hsinchu Blood Center supplies blood to hospitals in Taoyuan and Hsinchu City, and Hsinchu and Miaoli counties, the center said on Sunday. The nation’s blood supplies decline between the beginning of winter and the Lunar New Year every year, the center said.

Source: Taipei Times January 07, 2019 15:56 UTC