Achieving self sufficiency in blood across Europe

BMJ 1998;316:489-490 (14 February)

Editorials

Achieving self sufficiency in blood across Europe

European countries should encourage unpaid donors and dismantle barriers

When the development of blood component therapy was in its infancycountries were by and large self sufficient for whole blood.Large scale export and import of plasma started in the 1960sand early 1970s, when both albumin and coagulation factor VIIIbecame commercially available. The industry needed more andmore plasma, and the development of plastic bags made plasmapheresisfeasible. Large plasma donation centres were established, primarilyin the United States but also in countries such as Nicaraguaand Haiti. Exploitation of donors gained wide publicity, andthe trade in "red gold" became an important international mediaevent. In Europe self sufficiency in blood production has againbecome an important concern, but the picture is now more complicatedand self sufficiency is often confused with the issue of thesource of the blood—paid or unpaid donors.