It’s time to allow paid plasma donations

In order to help patients in need, it’s time Canada allows paid plasma donations.

Most Canadians are familiar with the process of donating blood, but have little knowledge about plasma donations. Blood plasma is the yellow liquid that houses our red and white blood cells.

Donating plasma takes slightly longer and is more intrusive than giving blood, but once the plasma is extracted from the blood mix, the donor’s blood is recycled back into their body. And it’s a valuable resource.

Plasma is used to make plasma protein therapies — medicines that treat burns, immune deficiencies, respiratory diseases and coagulation disorders, such as hemophilia. In fact, hemophiliacs — those whose blood won’t clot — need approximately1,300 plasma donations a year just to stay alive.

Unfortunately, Canada doesn’t collect enough plasma for all of the therapies Canadians need.

That pushed a team of professional ethicists and economists — including two Nobel Laureates — to write an open letter to a Health Canada Expert Panel and to provincial and territorial health ministers urging them to allow paid plasma donations.

They asked the Ontario, Quebec and Alberta governments to reconsider their prohibition, arguing that paying for plasma is a safe and effective way to help significantly increase the supply of plasma for Canadian medical care.

Unfortunately, public sector unions such as CUPE/OPSEU and the Registered Nurses Union have teamed up with advocacy groups, such as “BloodWatch” and Canadian Doctors For Medicare, to fight tooth and nail against paid plasma. They believe paid plasma should be banned on the grounds of public safety, that paying for plasma is exploitative and that it erodes altruistic motives.

Those opposed to paid plasma regularly cite the 1980s tainted blood scandal as justification for their objection. Although the 1980s blood scandal presented serious risks, those risks have been drastically cut with new measures, such as heat treatment, filtration and treatment chemicals that are used to remove or render viruses inactive.

There has not been one single case of HIV or hepatitis transmission caused by plasma products since the introduction of modern processing practices more than 25 years ago. The claim that plasma from paid donors is less safe, or unsafe, is “categorically untrue,” according to Canadian Blood Services president Dr. Graham Sher.

The second main criticism — that the exchange is exploitative — is also untrue.

Donors, whether paid or not, are always informed about the risks, go through medical screening, provide proof of residence and have to meet specific health requirements to qualify.

Thus, the process ensures no one is taken advantage of when they donate plasma. Not only are those safety checks in place, but donors are paid quite well for their time. Right now, in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick, the only provinces where these clinics operate, donors are compensated anywhere between $30 and $50.

It is disingenuous to call paid plasma donors — informed, healthy and consenting adults — exploited individuals. Especially once we factor in the compensation rate for these donors. This is made all the more clear again once we realize that human lives are at stake, and are helped by these additional plasma donations.

The last objection made by critics of paid plasma is that paying for plasma donations makes people less altruistic, that the financial motive takes away the act of charity. While a good idea in theory, the situation requires we focus on the immediate safety and health of Canadian patients, not the virtue signalling of paid plasma critics.

If the need for paid plasma isn’t clear enough, just consider how we currently deal with the supply shortage.

In order to meet supply, Canada ends up importing close to 70 per cent of the plasma from the United States, where they have paid plasma donor plans. Thus, Canadian officials end up acquiring plasma from paid donors abroad while prohibiting it here at home. Why should we favour American plasma imports?

The fact that organizations such as BloodWatch and their public sector union partners protest domestic paid plasma programs while remaining silent on the import of American plasma from paid donors tells you all you need to know.

Legalizing paid plasma is a huge step forward for patients, especially those who so desperately rely on important plasma products. Canada should follow through with this cause.

It is disingenuous to call paid plasma donors — informed, healthy and consenting adults — exploited individuals