Could paying donors help keep blood stocks flowing in SA?

When it comes to maintaining adequate blood stocks in South Africa, it can be incredibly challenging.

For starters, a unit of blood only lasts 42 days after collection. Then, there’s also the irregular and often unpredictable nature of medical demand to consider.

Moreover, blood donation centres depend on voluntary donors, whose availability may fluctuate during holiday periods, flu season and so on. For example, most donors travel during the festive period; resultantly, key collection sites – including workplaces and university campuses – typically close or operate on reduced schedules.

According to the South African National Blood Service (SANBS), less than one per cent of the population are active blood donors. So, this begs the question: to increase stocks, should donation centres pay citizens to donate blood?

DONATING BLOOD: WHAT THE LAW SAYS

Under South African law, it is strictly prohibited for citizens to be financially compensated for donating blood.

As per Chapter 8, Section 60.4-5 of the National Health Act 61 of 2003:

(4) It is an offence for a person – 
(a) who has donated tissue, a gamete, blood or a blood product to receive any form of financial or other reward for such donation, except for the reimbursement of reasonable costs incurred by him or her to provide such donation; and 
(b) to sell or trade in tissue, gametes, blood or blood products, except as provided for in this Chapter.
(5) Any person convicted of an offence in terms of subsection (4) is liable on conviction to a fine or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years or to both a fine and such imprisonment.

In other words, don’t start willing yourself to get over your fear of needles for monetary gain. Otherwise, you can and will face serious legal repercussions.

THE COSTS

The act of donating blood is a priceless, selfless act. On the other side of the coin, the process of collecting it and ensuring its safety for transfusion is costly. These include:

• Acquiring and using the regulatory-approved blood bags, personal protective equipment and medical tools to draw blood.
• Transporting the units to specialised laboratories for testing.
• Separating units into different components: red blood cells, platelets and plasma.
• Testing units for transfusion transmissible diseases (including HIV, Hepatitis B and C).
• Storing units at the temperature specified by the blood bank.

Local hospitals can then place orders for blood products, which are then used to treat patients in need.

“We receive no funds or subsidies from the government and are fully funded from the fees we charge for our service to ensure safe quality blood products,” says SANBS.

DO PATIENTS PAY FOR BLOOD?

Typically, no. The government covers the cost of blood products at public hospitals. As for patients at a private hospital or private medical facility, these products are covered by their medical scheme, as it is a prescribed minimum benefit.

However, if you were admitted to a private facility and either don’t have medical aid or your medical aid scheme doesn’t pay the full amount, you may be responsible for covering the shortfall.

Some collection centres in South Africa encourage patients in financial difficulty to approach to discuss settling accounts.

At the end of the day, blood donation is purely voluntary. And like most voluntary acts, it shouldn’t be driven by the need to attain money – it’s about giving back to those in need because you want to. If more folks can adopt this mindset, it will certainly make maintaining stocks achievable.