Just to be clear, it’s got nothing to do with your passport. The rule also applies to Taiwanese who have lived in Europe for many years. So there is no intent to discriminate against foreigners. It certainly sucks to be rejected in this way, but there’s no reason to take it personally.
Seems strange they are so selective about the possibility of mad cow in blood they can screen after donation when their hospitals transplant hiv-positive organs.
Similar happened to me.
Bloodgroup AB+, donated one time in 2006.
Next time I wanna donate, they asked me how long I lived in Germany (so not necessarily related to UK)
Well, born there, so more than 5 years.
Sorry, we cannot take ur blood anymore.
No problem, I keep my blood, need it for myself
I used to give blood at the blood drives. But when I passed 65 years old, they said no, not without permission from your doctor. I said as it happens, I serve as my own doctor, and I hereby give permission. They just smiled. Maybe they think I need it more than they do now.
What’s the next thing, not accepting blood or organs from tanned people?
I am an organ donor, and would start donating blood+sign up to be a marrow donor this summer.
But then again, I’m Taiwanese. I don’t understand all the fuss they’re making about Europeans and CJD. The chances of catching CJD from a mere (probably 99.9999999999% safe) transfusion is, well, almost nil.
That said, CJD is an ugly, ugly disease.
…Aaaaand the EU said they don’t see anything wrong in the French prohibition against homosexual people giving blood or organs. Government logic.
They’re just doing the best they can with the statistics they have.
They do this because screening tests are not infallible (read the wikipedia pages on specificity and sensitivity), not to mention expensive and time-consuming. The tests are the last line of defence. The first is to reject anyone who might possibly carry some awful disease, and however politically incorrect it might seem, homosexual men are statistically more likely be HIV-positive (the faulty-logic part is that it’s impossible to know who’s gay without relying on self-reporting). Europeans are statistically more likely to carry CJD (which can take decades to show symptoms - we don’t really know for sure how many people were or might be infected). AFAIK there is no simple test for the CJD prion. Many countries have similar restrictions, although obviously countries like the UK don’t have many options.
It’s a nice position to be in, rejecting donors. It means there’s already enough blood supplies in store.
You don’t have some sort of divine right to donate your blood or organs just so you can feel good about it. There are people on the receiving end who trust that the authorities are doing close to 100% to make sure they’re not going to end up worse off than they already are.
Basically, when you go back home and want to donate, you tell them you spent some time in Africa, Asia … they refuse you or your sample is extra screened and afterwards you’ll be told about it.
Even Taiwanese unser I found out recently below a certain weight/height ratio are told they can not donate.
[quote=“Belgian Pie”]Basically, when you go back home and want to donate, you tell them you spent some time in Africa, Asia … they refuse you or your sample is extra screened and afterwards you’ll be told about it.
Even Taiwanese unser I found out recently below a certain weight/height ratio are told they can not donate.[/quote]
Most skinny people have anemia from being malnourished. I bet many taiwanese girls who sport the bones-and-skin look have anemia, as do many people who eat street food regularly (from lack of iron).
[quote=“Blaquesmith”][quote=“Belgian Pie”]Basically, when you go back home and want to donate, you tell them you spent some time in Africa, Asia … they refuse you or your sample is extra screened and afterwards you’ll be told about it.
Even Taiwanese unser I found out recently below a certain weight/height ratio are told they can not donate.[/quote]
Most skinny people have anemia from being malnourished. I bet many taiwanese girls who sport the bones-and-skin look have anemia, as do many people who eat street food regularly (from lack of iron).[/quote]
Zhongxiao-Fuxing MRT station has a huge plastic churgergy advertisment berfore/after claiming the girls has reache a BMI of 15.5 … just unresponsible, the poster should be taken down!
[quote]BMI 15 to 15.9 is Severely underweight
With a BMI of 15.5, your weight may be too low. People with a low BMI score are essentially starving to death by not taking in enough calories to maintain a healthy body weight.[/quote]
[quote=“Blaquesmith”][quote=“Belgian Pie”]Basically, when you go back home and want to donate, you tell them you spent some time in Africa, Asia … they refuse you or your sample is extra screened and afterwards you’ll be told about it.
Even Taiwanese unser I found out recently below a certain weight/height ratio are told they can not donate.[/quote]
Most skinny people have anemia from being malnourished. I bet many taiwanese girls who sport the bones-and-skin look have anemia, as do many people who eat street food regularly (from lack of iron).[/quote]
Zhongxiao-Fuxing MRT station has a huge plastic churgergy advertisment berfore/after claiming the girl has reached a BMI of 15.5 … just unresponsible, the poster should be taken down!
[quote]BMI 15 to 15.9 is Severely underweight
With a BMI of 15.5, your weight may be too low. People with a low BMI score are essentially starving to death by not taking in enough calories to maintain a healthy body weight.[/quote]
[quote=“Blaquesmith”][quote=“Belgian Pie”]Basically, when you go back home and want to donate, you tell them you spent some time in Africa, Asia … they refuse you or your sample is extra screened and afterwards you’ll be told about it.
Even Taiwanese unser I found out recently below a certain weight/height ratio are told they can not donate.[/quote]
Most skinny people have anemia from being malnourished. I bet many taiwanese girls who sport the bones-and-skin look have anemia, as do many people who eat street food regularly (from lack of iron).[/quote]
More commonly, the anemia is due to a monthly purging of hemoglobin.
[quote=“johnlockian”][quote=“Blaquesmith”][quote=“Belgian Pie”]Basically, when you go back home and want to donate, you tell them you spent some time in Africa, Asia … they refuse you or your sample is extra screened and afterwards you’ll be told about it.
Even Taiwanese unser I found out recently below a certain weight/height ratio are told they can not donate.[/quote]
Most skinny people have anemia from being malnourished. I bet many taiwanese girls who sport the bones-and-skin look have anemia, as do many people who eat street food regularly (from lack of iron).[/quote]
More commonly, the anemia is due to a monthly purging of hemoglobin.[/quote]
If they eat well, they don’t have anemia even in those days. Eating well involves consuming enough iron to allow the body to make new hemoglobin (no iron, no hemoglobin). And I don’t mean they have to lick hammers like Miley Cyrus. An iron-rich diet usually involves eating more red meat, iron-rich vegetables like spinach or lentils, and others.
During the last years of her life, my grandma had a serious cirrhosis (liver affliction) derived from an Hep-C that she contracted from sharing needles when giving blood (in those years when Hep-C and HIV were almost unknown). When her liver started failing, she couldn’t produce as much hemoglobin and she had to ingest extra iron supplements and eat iron-rich foods. She had never been fond of eating a lot of meat, and we basically had to force her to do so. During the last three years of her life, she had to go regularly to the hospital (monthly at first, almost every week and a half later) to get blood transfusions because she couldn’t produce her own hemoglobin anymore. That’s the worst-case scenario anemia.