An international supermarket chain donated an electrical car for transporting blood that is estimated at over 600,000 lei, IPN reports.

According to the Ministry of Health, Labor and Social Protection, the Hematology Department of the Oncological Institute is classed as the largest consumer of blood components and derivatives used for curative proposes and in emergencies and such a vehicle was vital for the institution.

“The life of the patient often depends on the swiftness with which the blood is transported. We go to the National Blood Transfusion Center after blood components practically three times a day. The institution has 850 hospitalized persons and needs such a unit of transport,” stated Larisa Catrinici, director of the Oncological Institute.

In the ceremony to hand over the vehicle, Anna-Katharina Scheidereiter, manager of the international supermarket chain, said this is a charity act that becomes a symbol of hope for patients who need blood transfusion first of all.

According to the National Blood Transfusion Center, about 80,000 blood donations are made annually in Moldova, with 80% of these being voluntary donations.