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The Moscow News. by Vladimir Kozlov at 26/11/2012

by Vladimir Kozlov at 26/11/2012

A new law on blood donation, which is to come into effect as of Jan. 20, 2013, opens up the opportunity for foreign citizens to become blood donors. However, it is also expected to reduce opportunities for people to cash in on blood donations.

Under current regulations, only Russian citizens can donate blood. Exceptions may only be made for a relative with the same blood type, an employee of the blood transfusion center at the Botkin hospital told The Moscow News. The new law stipulates that foreign citizens can also donate blood.

However, fears that illegal migrants with dubious medical records could contribute to Russian blood banks – which some people expressed while the law was in the works – turn out to be groundless. Only an individual who has legally stayed in the country for at least a year with legitimate registration will qualify for blood donation.

Meanwhile, the new law signifies a shift towards free blood donation as opposed to the current situation, which allows people in some cities, such as Moscow, to receive substantial financial compensation for donating blood.

The practice of paying for blood donation dates back to the Soviet era, when it co-existed with voluntary blood donation, and the current situation is similar.

People who give blood for free are entitled to some benefits. They receive a paid leave of absence from work for the day when they go to give blood, plus one more day, which could be added to their vacation. Blood donors are also entitled to free meals on the day they give blood. And those who have donated blood at least twice during a calendar year enjoy full compensation for their sick leave over the next 12 months (something few Russian workers are entitled to), free vitamins and discounted sanatorium vouchers. University students are entitled to a 25 percent raise to their stipend over the next six months.

An individual who has given blood at least 40 times, or plasma at least 60 times, obtains the status of “honorable donor,” with a number of benefits attached, including a 50 percent discount on certain medicines and utility bills and free public transport passes. All those benefits are supposed to be paid for from local budgets.

However, the benefits, inherited from Soviet times and, incidentally, preserved in the new law, seem to be insufficient for some regions where demand for blood is especially high. Moscow, where numerous hospitals treat people from all over Russia, certainly is among the cities where the supply of donated blood lags behind demand, Yekaterina Chistyakova, director of the charitable foundation Podari Zhizn, told The Moscow News.

She added that there is no shortage of blood or plasma in most of the country’s other regions, while shortage of platelets is mostly explained by the fact that the procedure is expensive and disposable materials required for one procedure could cost as much as €200.

In a bid to encourage people to donate blood, Moscow’s healthcare department increased rates for blood donation as of January 1, 2012 by three times. As a result, a donor can collect 2,925 rubles for a standard blood donation and 2,400 rubles for a plasma donation, plus a 1,000-ruble meal compensation.

The new law stipulates payments for platelets but only free meals for blood and plasma donors. Still, it doesn’t specifically prevent local authorities from continuing the practice of paid blood donations. “It’s a myth that the new law cancels paid blood donation,” Chistyakova said. “There is enough room for maneuver in it.”

RIA Novosti quoted Health Ministry spokesman Oleg Salagay as saying the provision was nothing new.

“Support for development of volunteer blood donation was stipulated in [the previous law on blood donation], adopted in 1993.”

He added that there was an ethical side to that issue. “Giving blood should not be perceived as a way to make money for lower-income social groups.”

According to Salagay, the health ministry isn’t worried that the enactment of the new law could lead to a decline in the number of donors. “First, the law doesn’t rule out paid blood donations,” he explained. “Second, volunteer blood donation will be developed by explanations, motivations, social support measures and the creation of a special attitude to donating blood in society.”

Chistyakova agreed that the idea of switching to free blood donations is good, but noted that it could have been handled better.

“It was known about two years ago that a switch to free blood donation is going to take place, and steps should have been taken to prepare for that,” Chistyakova said. “Meanwhile, in Moscow, people have gotten used to having the opportunity of making good money by donating blood.”

Charitable foundations have worked extensively in the area of blood donation lately. But under the law – both current and new — only state-run organizations can be directly involved in blood transfusion. All charities may do is promote the idea of voluntary blood donation and encourage people to go to state-run transfusion centers and donate blood.

“We work with our donors, we call them, we explain to them what it is about,” Chistyakova said. “It’s similar to what a consumer company does to maintain customer loyalty.”

Over the last few years, the number of people willing to donate blood for free has gone up, largely thanks to a federal campaign held in 2008-2011. Chistyakova said it should be a continuous effort. “I haven’t seen any billboards or other ads for free blood donation lately,” she concluded.

Meanwhile, blood donation is also becoming part of corporate volunteer initiatives. Last week, a blood donor day was organized in the B tower of the Moskva City business quarter by the Managers’ Association and the public movement Dobrovolets TsAO in cooperation with the Moscow’s transfusion station.

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