Because not everyone who is eligible to give blood donates at least once a year, there are periodic shortages, like the one the American Red Cross declared on Sept. 11, 2023.
Allowing gay and bisexual men to donate blood would help alleviate chronic blood supply shortages in the U.S.
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In 1983, during the early days of the AIDS epidemic, the US Food and Drug Administration made the decision to ban gay men from donating blood. Now, 40 years later, it is dropping that rule.
Blood plasma and products made from it are used to treat conditions ranging from blood clotting disorders to immunodeficiencies to Rh-negative pregnancies.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Arnulfo Franco
We calculated there was a one in 1.4 billion chance of someone contracting vCJD from a blood transfusion. And that risk will get even smaller with time.
Researchers can test blood samples taken for other reasons to see if patients have previously had COVID-19.
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Your blood can hold a record of past illnesses. That information can reveal how many people have had a certain infection – like 58% of Americans having had COVID-19 by the end of February 2022.
The reasons for the hesitancy to donate blood are complex and include a fear of needles and lack of awareness. Awareness and education drives to dispel the fear of donating are important.
Plasma is the yellow liquid component of blood. It is separated into its component proteins and used in medical treatments.
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A potential shortage of crucial blood plasma highlights the case for paying Canadians for plasma donations, rather than continuing to import most plasma from the United States, where donors are paid.
About one in three people living in Australia were born overseas.
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Australia is a cultural melting pot, but our blood donors are less diverse. We need a broad mix of ethnicities in our donor pool to meet the needs of patients with rare blood types.
More than 80 per cent of the plasma Canada now uses for medical purposes comes from paid donation in the United States.
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Canada suffers a shortage of vital blood plasma. Paying donors, through a non-profit like Canadian Blood Services, would secure a local supply without lining the pockets of corporate shareholders.
Australians aren’t paid for their donations even though donors overseas are.
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To save taxpayer money and treat Australian donors more fairly, a competitive market for plasma supply is necessary.
Thousands of people queued to donate blood in the wake of the Orlando massacre, but the target of the attacks, the gay community, was not able to contribute.
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In the the wake of the Orlando massacre, many people directly affected by this homophobic hate crime are prevented from offering help due to homophobic regulations.
Creutzfeld-Jacob disease occurs in about one to two in every million people each year, most often in late middle-age.
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News that a Sydney man has contracted Creutzfeld-Jacob disease serves to highlight that we still don’t know how to prevent a disease that most often goes unreported, and unremarked on.