The good news is Canada has a much safer blood system today. Canadian Blood Services is better administered, more transparent and regulated properly.
There has not been a single case of a patient infected by contaminated blood since the Krever report was tabled.
Yet, debates about blood safety persist, namely about the issue of paid plasma. The Krever report said all blood collected should be "voluntary and unpaid, except in rare circumstances."
Blood products are increasingly used, but Canada is not self-sufficient – only about 17 per cent of products such as intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) are made with plasma collected in Canada; the balance are imported, largely from the United States, where plasma donors are paid.
Now a private company, Canadian Plasma Resources, has set up shop in Canada, and it pays donors. Another company, Green Cross Biotherapeutics, is building a plant in Montreal to produce albumin and IVIg. Meanwhile, Canadian Blood Services is trying to bolster voluntary donations.
This is a complex issue, explored in depth in a recent Maclean's magazine article.
One of the lessons of the tainted-blood scandal is that the jingoistic belief that voluntary Canadian blood is inherently safer is wrong. At the same time, the enormous profits that can be made from blood products can incite manufacturers to seek out donors, even risky ones.
The key is having firm standards and forceful regulation – not areas where Health Canada has excelled.
To avoid another tainted-blood scandal, we need to be vigilant. We know our history, but also our limitations and, above all, we must debate the benefits and risks of our blood collection and distribution methods openly and vigorously.
The tainted-blood tragedy is largely forgotten, so let's summarily review some of the worst horrors:
more
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opi...of-the-tainted-blood-scandal/article37097051/
There has not been a single case of a patient infected by contaminated blood since the Krever report was tabled.
Yet, debates about blood safety persist, namely about the issue of paid plasma. The Krever report said all blood collected should be "voluntary and unpaid, except in rare circumstances."
Blood products are increasingly used, but Canada is not self-sufficient – only about 17 per cent of products such as intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) are made with plasma collected in Canada; the balance are imported, largely from the United States, where plasma donors are paid.
Now a private company, Canadian Plasma Resources, has set up shop in Canada, and it pays donors. Another company, Green Cross Biotherapeutics, is building a plant in Montreal to produce albumin and IVIg. Meanwhile, Canadian Blood Services is trying to bolster voluntary donations.
This is a complex issue, explored in depth in a recent Maclean's magazine article.
One of the lessons of the tainted-blood scandal is that the jingoistic belief that voluntary Canadian blood is inherently safer is wrong. At the same time, the enormous profits that can be made from blood products can incite manufacturers to seek out donors, even risky ones.
The key is having firm standards and forceful regulation – not areas where Health Canada has excelled.
To avoid another tainted-blood scandal, we need to be vigilant. We know our history, but also our limitations and, above all, we must debate the benefits and risks of our blood collection and distribution methods openly and vigorously.
The tainted-blood tragedy is largely forgotten, so let's summarily review some of the worst horrors:
more
https://www.theglobeandmail.com/opi...of-the-tainted-blood-scandal/article37097051/