THE Quezon City government on Monday urged mall shoppers to donate blood patients with dengue fever and other high-risk illnesses.

Dr. Antonieta Inumerable, city health officer, spearheaded effort to encourage more blood donations among mall goers.

She said the city’s Ever-Gotesco mall on Commonwealth Avenue, North Triangle Mall or TriNoma, and three SM malls-–North Edsa, Cubao and Fairview-–have agreed to allow the city government to set up booths to accept blood donations.

The blood-letting program would benefit patients of the Lung Center of the Philippines, Philippine Heart Center, St. Luke’s Medical Center, Quezon City General Hospital, and Quirino Memorial Medical Center, which have registered the most number of dengue patients.

Inumerable said blood donations are regularly being undertaken at the district health centers.

Citing an order from Mayor Herbert Bautista, she said the city health department continuously conducts a massive anti-dengue information dissemination drive to encourage city residents to participate in efforts to control dengue.

According to Inumerable, the epidemiology and surveillance unit of the City Health Department reported about 3,948 dengue cases, or an increase of 125 percent, with 29 deaths from August 1 to 20.

Despite the increase, Quezon City had only the ninth highest number of dengue cases among Metro Manila’s 17 cities and municipalities. Rio N. Araja