Wednesday, August 22, 2018

Donating blood

I have written about this before, but thought it was well worth talking about again especially after reading the following article which had this headline:

"Canadian Blood Services Urgently Needs Donors, But Still Won't Accept Gay Men"

Not only will it not accept gay men, it still won't accept the following people, as per the Canadian Blood Services site:

"Some people are deferred from giving blood because of where they have lived or visited. For instance, donors who have travelled to locations outside of Canada, the continental U.S. and Europe have a waiting period of 21 days after their return home before donating blood. These new criteria were introduced in February 2016, to identify donors at greater risk for acquiring illnesses spread by mosquitos such as Zika virus.
Other deferrals include those for malaria and vCJD.
Because the risk of infection diminishes over time, people from a country where malaria is prevalent are deferred for three years after departure from the country. Those who have visited a malaria risk area are deferred for one year after departure.
Because of the theoretical risk of variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (vcJD), Health Canada concluded that deferring donors who had spent time in the following places balances the safety of Canada's blood supply with the need for donors:
  • a cumulative total of three months or more in the United Kingdom (UK) between January 1980 and December 31, 1996
  • a cumulative total of three months or more in France between January 1980 and December 31, 1996
  • a cumulative total of five years or more in Western Europe outside the U.K. or France from January 1, 1980 through December 31, 2007. Western European countries affected are Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Spain, Republic of Ireland, Portugal, Denmark, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein.
  • a cumulative total of six months or more in Saudi Arabia from January 1, 1980 through December 31, 1996

Donor screening deferrals are based on risk factors. It has nothing to do with race or ethnicity."
What this means that despite me, my husband, son and daughter living most if not more of our lives in Canada we cannot still donate blood.  It's a crying shame............

7 comments:

Joy said...

Small wonder they are short of donors - it seems very rigid.

Evelyn said...

it is crazy sometimes all the rules but I guess when it comes to blood supply they have to be careful. They also now make us (women) wait 4 months before donating again

William Kendall said...

There are a lot of rules. I donate regularly, usually four times a year. I could donate six times, but the iron levels in my blood take a bit longer to build back up again after a donation.

Out My window said...

I cannot give blood as I don't recover. Last time I was down for 3 days and I mean crawling. Every time I stood up I passed out.

Jackie said...

Our son donates blood three or four times a year, unless he gets a tattoo. Then he can't donate for a year. I think many of the rules came out after it was discovered that blood tainted with Hep C got into the supply. My sister needed to be tested as she had undergone a transfusion during the time period this happened.

God bless.

Evelyn said...

I am glad restrictions are in place. I didn't donate for years and now do so every chance I get unless my iron is low.

Northern Living Allowance said...

I can't donate because of the time I spent in the UK in 1985/86, so the Jakob Creuzfeld applies to me, although I've never asked about the potential here. Although I'm now so anaemic, I probably wouldn't be allowed either. Shame, as I have good blood! xx

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