It’s time to allow paid plasma donations, Opinion, Jan. 16
It was disappointing to read this column by David Clement, North American affairs manager for the Consumer Choice Centre (CCC).
The CCC is a right-wing think tank funded by tobacco companies, big oil and Koch Industries. It frames itself as a consumer rights organization, even though it isn’t a member-based organization and it doesn’t have any defined links to consumers themselves. The CCC is bent on deregulating public health, environmental and consumer protection laws wherever they interfere with corporate profits.
So it wasn’t a surprise to see the CCC attacking the principled and practical position that organizations like CUPE have taken when it comes to the collection of plasma in Canada: namely, that donation of plasma should come from non-remunerated, voluntary donors. It’s a view we happen to share with the World Health Organization, the International Red Cross and the findings of Canada’s own Krever Inquiry.
Why? Because unpaid blood donation is recognized worldwide as the safest source of blood.
And studies show paid donors have higher rates of infectious disease markers than unpaid donors. When motivated by money, donors are less likely to reveal reasons they’re unsuitable to give blood; private collectors target vulnerable communities with populations at higher risk of blood-borne pathogens; and voluntary donor programs are weakened.
The only way to secure Canada’s blood and plasma supply is to ensure a healthy donor population. Our national, not-for-profit blood authority, Canadian Blood Services, has an ambitious plan to do exactly that — by opening dozens of voluntary plasma collection sites across Canada to help us achieve self-sufficiency.
The greatest threat to that plan is the expansion of paid plasma. It makes sense that the laws and programs that promote the safeguarding of Canada’s blood supply irk the CCC and its corporate backers.
The reality is that Canada’s best shot at achieving self-sufficiency in its own blood and plasma supply is to follow the recommendations of the WHO and the Krever Inquiry, and support expanded efforts to grow the supply from non-remunerated, voluntary donors.
Mark Hancock, national president, Canadian Union of Public Employees