Canadian Blood Services Makes Changes to Donor Deferral Criteria
Welcomes back donors who travelled to U.K. and France since 1996
Ottawa, August 15, 2005 – Canadian Blood Services is implementing changes to its donor deferral criteria in order to reflect the most up-to-date scientific research regarding risks to the blood supply. As a result, some donors will be subject to new deferrals while deferral periods for others will be reduced or eliminated.
“Safety and adequacy are two essential components of the blood system,” said Dr. Graham Sher, Chief Executive Officer for Canadian Blood Services. “These changes will allow us to keep our commitment to Canadians on both counts.”
Changes to Indefinite Deferrals – vCJD
Since September 30, 1999 safeguards have been in place to protect the blood system from the risk of transmission of variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (vCJD). Donors who meet certain criteria under this policy are indefinitely deferred from donating. The following changes directly reflect the most recent information on the safeguards the United Kingdom, France and Western Europe have in place to protect the bovine and human populations:
- Donors who have received a blood transfusion or received medical treatment with a product made from blood in the United Kingdom, France or Western Europe since January 1, 1980 will now be deferred indefinitely. Previously, this deferral was limited to the United Kingdom.
- Donors who have spent a cumulative total of three months or more in France or in the United Kingdom between January 1, 1980 and December 31, 1996 will be deferred indefinitely. In the past, donors who had spent a cumulative total of three months or more in France or the United Kingdom since January 1, 1980 were deferred.
- Donors whose cumulative three month travel period to the UK or France did not occur between January 1, 1980 and December 31, 1996, will once again be eligible to donate.
Since 1992, confirmed BSE cases in the UK and France have been steadily declining. The 1996 cut-off date is reflective of the period between January 1980 and December 1996 when the BSE epidemic was at its peak in the United Kingdom and France. Since that time, cases have continued to decline and BSE monitoring and control mechanisms have been implemented to stop the spread of the disease in the bovine population and thereby decreasing the risk of transmission of vCJD to humans.
For more information on indefinite deferrals (vCJD), click here.
Changes to Temporary Deferrals
Some prospective blood and/or bone marrow donors may be unable to donate for a period of time for reasons of their own health or the safety of the blood supply or marrow product. The following changes are being made to the temporary deferral criteria policies:
- The following deferral periods will be reduced from 12 months to six months:
- Persons who have a tattoo, ear or body piercing, or who have undergone acupuncture or electrolysis procedures;
- Individuals who have had sexual contact with a partner whose sexual background is unknown; and
- Individuals who have been injured by a needle or who have had contact with blood from another person.
Reducing the deferral period reflects the latest available medical research on the “window period” – the brief period after the onset of a viral infection during which early signs of a virus cannot be detected by existing tests. Additionally, significant advances in transfusion transmissible disease testing has occurred in recent years, such as improved antibody assays and more recently, the implementation of nucleic acid testing (NAT) for hepatitis C (HCV) and HIV.
- In order to comply with the Canadian Standards Association standard on Blood and Blood components, persons who have been incarcerated for 48 hours (rather than three days – Canadian Blood Services previous standard) or more will now be deferred from donating blood for 12 months following the date of release from incarceration.
For more information on temporary deferrals, click here.
Message to Donors
If you believe that you may now be eligible to donate or would like more information, please call 1-888-2-DONATE to speak to a Canadian Blood Services representative who will be able to provide more details and/or book an appointment.
About Canadian Blood Services
Canadian Blood Services is a national, not-for-profit charitable organization that manages the blood supply in all provinces and territories outside of Quebec and oversees the country's Unrelated Bone Marrow Donor Registry. Canadian Blood Services operates 41 permanent collection sites and more than 19,000 donor clinics annually. The Provincial and Territorial Ministers of Health provide operational funding to Canadian Blood Services. The federal government, through Health Canada, is responsible for regulating the blood system. For more information, please visit the website at www.bloodservices.ca.
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For further information, please contact:
Derek Mellon
Media Room Relations Manager
Canadian Blood Services
(613) 739-2177
derek.mellon@blood.ca
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