On October 1, 1998, the Blood Donation Law of the People’s Republic of China was formally implemented, clarifying the direction of blood donation work and publicity in China.
Both the Blood Donation Law and the Measures for the Administration of Clinical Blood Use in Medical Institutions clearly point out that selling blood and accepting selling blood are illegal acts.
Why is blood trading prohibited by legislation?
Because, blood products is a very special medical products, when blood donation involves economic benefits, people who do not meet the qualification of blood donation will sell blood for money, and illegal blood collection institutions are bound to appear. Blood sources and blood collection process will become difficult to supervise, health and safety cannot be guaranteed, and the spread of various diseases is difficult to control.
Think of the “AIDS Village” incident in the 1980s and 1990s when villagers in some areas collectively sold blood.
Some people may ask, a few decades ago, many people had difficulty in ensuring food and clothing, which is why they sold blood. Now that people’s living standards have improved, there should be no selling blood for money, right?
No, selling blood for money is almost the same as getting something for nothing. For many people with low incomes, this extra profit is a welcome opportunity.
Look at how many people are shouting to sell kidneys for a mobile phone. If you can really sell kidneys, believe me, someone will definitely go.
Is there a shortage of blood in the blood bank?
Yes.
One consequence of blood donation without compensation is that the amount of blood donated is insufficient, and the amount of blood donated each year is far from enough for the amount of blood used.
Take Beijing as an example. On the one hand, the number of patients in Beijing is very large. Patients from all over the country will come to Beijing to see doctors, including many patients who need large-scale surgery, so the amount of blood used will naturally go up. On the other hand, Beijing often hosts large-scale activities, such as the Olympic Games and large-scale parliaments, etc., and holding these large-scale activities requires the protection of some blood stocks.
The demand for blood remains high, but the number of active blood donors has not increased.
How does the policy encourage blood donation without compensation?
In order to encourage people to donate blood, various places have issued encouraging policies, generally promising how much blood donors and their immediate family members can use free or priority within a few years.
In practice, the promise that [blood donors can use blood free of charge] is not as simple as we understand.
On the one hand, [free] is not to use blood directly without paying the money, but to pay the money first and then take the invoice to the blood donation center in the place where the blood donation is made to reimburse the expenses.
On the other hand, it is also a very helpless place at present: blood is tight, and most of the time, even if money is paid, blood cannot be used.
Because there is not enough blood, blood donation is encouraged, and the way of encouragement is to use blood free of charge. However, when it is needed, there is not enough blood-the current situation that makes people helpless.
Why is blood donation free of charge and blood charges?
Here, I have to explain the questions of many people: Why is blood donation free of charge but blood is charged? Is there a hidden secret among them?
No. Think about it, after blood is collected, it must go through strict tests to ensure that there are no infectious diseases, and then it must be separated to separate plasma from red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, etc. to ensure that blood can be used to the fullest extent.
These processes all cost money, plus the costs of labor, storage and transportation, so the use of blood has to pay a certain fee.
A helpless act in the face of [blood shortage]
When the operation involves organs with abundant blood supply, blood needs to be prepared before the operation. Generally, 2-3 units (200 milliliters per unit) of blood need to be prepared for general operations, and more will be required for major operations.
When there is sufficient blood, the hospital or family members will use blood when applying. More often than not, it is necessary for family members or enthusiastic people to take the [mutual blood donation form] to the blood bank to donate the same amount of blood before applying for blood preparation. When the blood is more tense, such as the preparation of Rh negative blood, not only the same volume should be donated, but also the same blood type as the patient’s blood.
This regulation is hard and fast. If it is not satisfied, the patient cannot prepare blood and can only postpone the operation.
A dilemma
If the stock of blood bank is not guaranteed, it will not enter or leave, and there will soon be no blood available.
However, in case of emergency during the operation, doctors will never be from ruin.
I have experienced a liver hemangioma surgery, the operation process is extremely difficult, the patient bleed nearly 10,000 milliliters, using almost 30 units of blood. At that time, the operating room situation is the same as TV series, doctors and nurses staring at blood pressure and heart rate, while shouting [go to the blood bank to get blood, get as much as you have! Fortunately, the patient’s operation was successful.
In retrospect, this was when there was blood in the blood bank. If there was no blood, the result would be really difficult to say.
Solutions
You can think that the [one size fits all] policy of donating blood free of charge is simple and crude. You can say that donating blood or not donating blood is citizens’ freedom… There are many reasons for not donating blood, but the reason for encouraging people to donate blood is very simple: everyone does not donate blood. What should I do when patients need blood transfusion? What should I do when this patient is yourself or your relatives and friends?
Here, not to mention Rh negative blood, which is rare in itself. Whenever you see someone asking for blood information, as a doctor, you can feel the anxiety of your family members.
If you are healthy, give your blood once. It is a warm thing to help each other and rely on each other. This is also the original intention of the panda blood platform.
As for some people who worry that blood donation will be harmful to their health? [Here’s a brief answer: A healthy adult who donates 200 ~ 400 milliliters of blood at a time will not cause what damage to his body and will not easily infect what.