Beijing blood bank sees shortage due to A/H1N1 flu

BEIJING, Nov. 3 (Xinhua) -- Beijing's blood bank has seen dramatic decline in storage as fewer people visit the street blood donation buses due to the cold weather and A/H1N1 flu epidemic.

The storage has dropped to 41 percent of the normal level, Dai Suna, deputy director of the Beijing Red Cross Blood Center said Tuesday.

Deng Yaping, four-time Olympic table tennis champions and an official blood-donation promoter, urged voluntary blood donation among the public by donating her own blood at the center Tuesday.

Beijing municipal government adopted a new regulation on blood donation starting Monday, which bans compulsory donation and encourages voluntary donation by citizens aged 18 to 55.

Citizens can use free blood without limits for life after donating 1,000 milliliter of blood, according to the regulation.