I was going to give a blood donation this morning. The bus was parkked downstairs. I had to fill out a form. One of the questions was “Were you in Ireland or England (UK) during the period 1980 to 1995?”
MY ANSWER WAS YES, WHICH DISBARRED ME FROM MAKING A DONATION. SEEMS THEY ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE MAD COWS AND CJD. WELL I GUESS THEY CAN CHOOSE WHO AND WHAT CONDITIONS THEY WILL ACCEPT BLOOD
P.S THE GROUP TAKING THE BLOOD WERE SOME BUDDHIST GROUP (NOT THE SAME GROUP THAT BUILD THE HOSPITALS AND HAVE THE TV STATION)
[quote=“TNT”]WAS GOING TO GIVE A BLOOD DONATION THIS MORNING. THE BUS WAS PARKED DOWNSTAIRS.
I had TO FILL OUT A FORM
ONE OF THE QUESTIONS WAS
“WERE YOU IN IRELAND OR England (UK) DURING THE PERIOD 1980 TO 1995?”
MY ANSWER WAS YES, WHICH DISBARRED ME FROM MAKING A DONATION. SEEMS THEY ARE CONCERNED ABOUT THE MAD COWS AND CJD. WELL I GUESS THEY CAN CHOOSE WHO AND WHAT CONDITIONS THEY WILL ACCEPT BLOOD
P.S THE GROUP TAKING THE BLOOD WERE SOME BUDDHIST GROUP (NOT THE SAME GROUP THAT BUILD THE HOSPITALS AND HAVE THE TV STATION)[/quote]
I wanted to donate blood when in the UK but they refused because i had once been to Thailand ?
I think the mad cow disease question stipulates 3 months in UK during that time period…
West Nile Virus is a concern as well. They have a list of countries (including Canada, the US and Israel) that you need to wait a month after your return to Taiwan before donating.
I always use the cllinic inside exit 7 of Taipei Main Station (MRT). Less hit and miss (to find) than the buses. Although it does seem there is usually a bus in front of Mitsukoshi near Nova…
Same here. I couldn’t donate 'cos of the old mad cow.
Shame, ;cos if you do make a donation here then your family are then entitled to priority blood transfusions should there be a shortage or need for rare blood that may be in shortage.
I know this is an old topic, but just for anyone else thinking of donating blood and not lying to the nurse and not wanting to walk shamefully out the entrance instead of out the back of the bus proudly less a pint of blood…
According to my nurse/screener: If you’ve ever smoked marijuana they can’t accept your blood. If you’ve had more than one sex partner in the past year, they also won’t accept your blood.
I went with my mother and she was outside waiting for me. The nurse was incredibly considerate and offered to tell my mother that my blood pressure was too low to donate (no one would believe that since I can’t fit into my jeans from a month of street fooding).
I discovered the UK issue in Korea, and then had it confirmed in Vietnam and Taiwan - no-one wants us because of the mad cows - surely all these years later we are safe? Ah well hey ho.
I never ate meat during that period. My mad cowism is hereditary. Weirdly, Brit to Brit blood transfusions don’t seem to transmit CJD … Is it because our precious fluids have magics which have only pass from Brit to Brit and furriners will MELT if exposed to our foul toxins?
Aren’t 80% of Taiwanese people Hep A carriers? How does that work with blood donations? Does it matter? HepB and C can be transmitted through blood donations.
So, no foreigners, then. [/quote]
The husband went to donate blood today. He has never smoked anything, no other sex partners, never lived in the Uk nothing. He was refused coz he was a foreigner who had not been in Taiwan for 3 years. One assumes, they’d be all over healthy bodied males (even foreigners).
Wait there’s more, he goes to really check out the rules and it turns out that any Taiwanese who has travelled abroad, will have to wait for a year before donating. 8 million Taiwanese leave these shores every year and that is 8 million people every year being denied to donate blood.
Reminds me of an old old Hindu superstition. your blood becomes unpure when you leave the country’s shores. Or is there some science to it.
[quote=“divea”]He was refused because he was a foreigner who had not been in Taiwan for 3 years. One assumes, they’d be all over healthy bodied males (even foreigners).[/quote] That must be a new “rule”, as I am quite certain I donated long before I’d been here for three years. Usually they are all over males, as they can often convince them to donate plasma only - a larger volume donation that can help more people.[quote]any Taiwanese who has travelled abroad, will have to wait for a year before donating. [/quote] Unless they have changed it, there is a list of countries you have travelled to - some you have to wait a year (Apparently Egypt has Malaria, acording to their list. WHO, of which Taiwan is not a part, claims no cases since 1998) , others just a month (such as North America, due to West Nile virus, which has now made it past the Rockies)[quote] your blood becomes unpure when you leave the country’s shores. [/quote] I’d hate to think these “new rules” are feeding into the xenophobia that seems to settle down and then periodically raise its ugly head here. Hopefully there is an attempt at logic going on here. I am due to donate as well, but haven’t high hopes based on what you wrote.
I was a blood donor in Belgium for many years, even donated blood in Taiwan for several years until they found this crazy cow in a Belgian farm barn :loco: … now forget it, they don’t want my excellent juice … :no-no:
Anyways, in Belgium they also have lists of countries you can not have visited 3-6 months before donating … but that’s just it 3-6 months … after that just let it flow … I guess they put some bleach in it then, kills most bugs … :roflmao:
When I worked on the Red Cross blood donation vans here, we had to do the preliminary screening of donors. The nurses explained to us that, as recipients of donated blood generally are very sick or accident victims, their immune systems are very weak and cannot afford to risk any danger of anything “bad” in the blood. After they explained it to us, it did make more sense. Err on the side of caution is probably a good thing in this situation.
Yeah, but what could be that bad, that won’t clear in 29 months? From what I know Blood takes 3-6 months to renew. I also assumed, all donations were screened and tested. And redcross in India isn’t like that. My husband was in India Last January only for a month, he walked up to the red cross centre, walked in, donated blood, walked out. No questions asked. We have always donated blood like that. I seriously think, there is a lot of red tapism here.
Moreover, it is known that not all blood here is not tested for HIV antibodies. That is a big no-no, as you say, medical practicve must err on teh side of caution.
Back home, it is expensive, but they do it because they accept there is a risk. Here, they prefer to deny the risk exists or relagate it to “foreign devils”. That ain’t right.
If someone has the time, could this please be translated so the rest of the forumosan community knows which travels disqualify one before going to the clinic? Thanks so much, all you amazing linguists!
Banned from donating for one month if you have been to these countries:
Banned from donating for one YEAR if you have been to any of these countries:
If you donate platelets only it takes quite some time (maybe an hour to an hour and a half for separating the blood), but you can do it every couple weeks. (you must weigh at least 60 kg)
Two or three very patient Aussies with rare platetes did this regularly for several months, saving a young relative of mine. Thanks.
These donations are much, much faster:
Donate 500 cc of whole blood and you can go every 3 months. ( I think must also weigh 60 kg)
Donate 250 cc of whole blood and you can go every 2 months. (must weigh 45 kg)
