4 ms·

> paying everyone in the process except donors. Probably to reduce incentives for people desperate for cash. If I ever need blood (I'm in France, same payment

> paying everyone in the process except donors. Probably to reduce incentives for people desperate for cash. If I ever need blood (I'm in France, same payment system as in Canada from what I know, and what you wrote), I want clean blood; and I'm not paying (with my tax money) for dirty blood to be pumped. If you pay donors, whatever drug addict might think about making a quick buck, lying on their medical form, getting their next high. You could do ID checks at each donation event, ban people for life - but how can you do that while keeping their data secure? (Banned from giving blood = either addict, or is/was seriously ill, or received a transfusion already, or had male gay sex, etc. ; which is a serious privacy leak)

curryst 7y ago
Donated blood in the US is rigorously tested. Even if you don't pay people, it's entirely possible that someone doesn't realize that they have HIV or some other disease. CDC page on blood testing: https://www.cdc.gov/bloodsafety/basics.html https://www.cdc.gov/bloodsafety/basics.html
epmaybe 7y ago
You know that blood products are screened for a number of sexually transmitted diseases and other infectious products before transfusions, right? Off the top of my head, HIV, hepatitis, syphilis, and CJD among others. I'd imagine this list is similar in every country. There's always a theoretical risk of getting an infection from blood transfusions. In the US there is a reported risk of < 1:1,000,000 for HIV post transfusion, but that is because we did not test for it in the past. We have been for at least a decade if not more.
Scoundreller 7y ago
With so many French being disqualified from donating (I blame the UK’s model of for-profit beef production instead of a volunteer model), you’re probably paying for imported products. EU countries do have incentives for donating. I can’t find any specifics, but one country gives you a tax break, others give you a day off. Dunno if I could call that a volunteer model.

curryst 7y ago

Donated blood in the US is rigorously tested. Even if you don't pay people, it's entirely possible that someone doesn't realize that they have HIV or some other disease. CDC page on blood testing: https://www.cdc.gov/bloodsafety/basics.html https://www.cdc.gov/bloodsafety/basics.html

epmaybe 7y ago

You know that blood products are screened for a number of sexually transmitted diseases and other infectious products before transfusions, right? Off the top of my head, HIV, hepatitis, syphilis, and CJD among others. I'd imagine this list is similar in every country. There's always a theoretical risk of getting an infection from blood transfusions. In the US there is a reported risk of < 1:1,000,000 for HIV post transfusion, but that is because we did not test for it in the past. We have been for at least a decade if not more.

Scoundreller 7y ago

With so many French being disqualified from donating (I blame the UK’s model of for-profit beef production instead of a volunteer model), you’re probably paying for imported products. EU countries do have incentives for donating. I can’t find any specifics, but one country gives you a tax break, others give you a day off. Dunno if I could call that a volunteer model.