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Dunno, I sold blood plasma in uni. IIRC I made $75/week doing it. I think the trade offs are all sensible here. 1. It doesn't depend on politics, it already w

Dunno, I sold blood plasma in uni. IIRC I made $75/week doing it. I think the trade offs are all sensible here. 1. It doesn't depend on politics, it already works today 2. You have to plan for and show up to a place to get the money and ensure your blood remains valuable, all of which promote a basic semblance of order in your life, especially when you're on the ropes. 3. You save lives and are compensated for it 4. In the area between having no money vs having a job, pretty much anything I can think of to make money is worse than selling plasma. It's a lucky quirk that you can sell your plasma, because you usually can't sell your blood even though countries, industry, hospitals, and insurance companies pay each other good money for it, just not to the person who created it.

Avshalom 1y ago
It does depend on politics, the USA being on of the few countries that allows payment for plasma is result of politics, to the degree that blood products make up ~3% of US exports. Like yeah, I give (double red) blood as often as I am able because, well civic duty and all but it's still real fucked.
- hombre_fatal 1y ago
  True. But what I mean is that cash handouts are a constant contentious political battleground that feels like a pipe dream where I live while selling plasma was a political decision made before we arrived and probably not something most people feel quite as strongly about. The danger as I see it is that we can let perfect be the enemy of good, though I suppose you aren't suggesting that it's bad that people have the option to sell their plasma as everything currently stands. I do see it better than the alternative of prohibiting it.
pkaye 1y ago
Only five countries allow payment for plasma donations: US, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and Hungary. The reality is the countries that don't allow payment for plasma donations don't produce enough plasma drug products for self sufficiency within their country. They have to import it from one of the other countries (primarily US because it has the biggest population of those five.) This is all due to a policy pushed by the WHO recommending countries not pay for plasma donations.

Avshalom 1y ago

It does depend on politics, the USA being on of the few countries that allows payment for plasma is result of politics, to the degree that blood products make up ~3% of US exports. Like yeah, I give (double red) blood as often as I am able because, well civic duty and all but it's still real fucked.

hombre_fatal 1y ago
True. But what I mean is that cash handouts are a constant contentious political battleground that feels like a pipe dream where I live while selling plasma was a political decision made before we arrived and probably not something most people feel quite as strongly about. The danger as I see it is that we can let perfect be the enemy of good, though I suppose you aren't suggesting that it's bad that people have the option to sell their plasma as everything currently stands. I do see it better than the alternative of prohibiting it.

pkaye 1y ago

Only five countries allow payment for plasma donations: US, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and Hungary. The reality is the countries that don't allow payment for plasma donations don't produce enough plasma drug products for self sufficiency within their country. They have to import it from one of the other countries (primarily US because it has the biggest population of those five.) This is all due to a policy pushed by the WHO recommending countries not pay for plasma donations.