Donating blood

[Katieb]

I have recently noticed a sign in our town advertising a blood donoring session next week, as i used to donated blood in the UK, i would also like to do it here. Does anybody know if i have to make any prior arrangements or visit my Medecin before attending the session or do i just turn up and do i need to take any ID or anything with me? (my french is still quite limited so i would like to be prepared beforehand!)

Thanks as always

Kate

[Normann]

I don`t know if your british or not Kate, but if you lived in the UK between 1980 and I think it`s 1996 then you probably won`t be able to give blood in France. They don`t want to risk being infected with mad cow disease.....

I`ve tried twice and each time, I`ve been (very politely) turned away.

Please correct me if anybody knows different.

Norman

[SaligoBay]

No, unless it's changed very recently, they don't want filthy British blood.

Or even of French people who have stayed for longer than 3 months (I think) in the UK during that period you mentioned.   Not even if you were a vegetarian and never touched beef in your life.   Not even if you beg them to take it!!

[Mistral]

Or even of French people who have stayed for longer than 3 months (I think) in the UK during that period you mentioned

I think it's 12 months, but accumulated, so if you stayed for a month a year during that period, then you're out. It didn't make much difference to me when the law came out as I was already on the black list having had a blood transfusion once in my life and being under 50kg

[Val_2]

Everyone who lived inthe UK for at least ten years upto 1996 CANNOT give blood in France. This was on a printed letter to us when my daughter was called to donate at Lycée two years ago and then they "discovered" she had lived in the UK until early 95.

[Chrissie]

And you can't donate organs either (onviously), so no point carrying a donor card.

Chrissie (81)

[Katieb]

Gosh, i'm really shocked at that info - i'm glad i posted the question now, it saves the embarrassment of being turned away.

Thankyou for your replies

From

a British mad cow.......

[Lori]

I was really surprised to read all this too Katie.  Is there any real fact to prove the concern?  Can the blood not be tested like it is for so many other maladies before going to the blood bank?

I don't know about France, but I know in the U.S. blood banks will take nearly anyone - short of the obvious warnings.  They need the blood.  Does the same not apply here?  I realize they must to everything they can to protect their supply.  I would never suggest any wrong in that.  It just seems sort of over the top...

Are there other countries on the " no take " list?

 

[andyh4]

Pretty much the same rule applies in Germany.

The problem is that not enough is known about vCJD and its potential incubation time.  Consequently everyone in authority is being cautious.

 

[Clarkkent]

There probably is an element of Brit bashing in the French government's approach to this, but there is real caution to prevent a repeat of the catastrophe of the HIV-infected blood banks of about 15 years ago.

The incidence of vCJD appears to be declining in the UK - possibly to levels existing in France.

 

A farmer, Mark Purdey, believes that BSE (and hence vCJD) is due to supersonic aircraft and a visit to his website ( www.markpurdey.com  ) will entertain (?) you with charts showing the correlation between Concorde flight paths and BSE outbreaks in France and Britain.

 

[Pangur]

It's not "brit bashing" - it's cheaper to just bar risky people now rather than deal with possibly infected blood in your banks.

Neither can you give blood in the US if you lived in the UK between for at least six months between 1980 and 1996 - according to the FDA in any case. In fact the American Red Cross won't let you give blood if you spent 3 months in the UK during that period.

[Viv]

I would have thought that there was a far greater risk of contracting HIV than BSE through blood donations. Is it that it is easier to detect the HIV virus than BSE?

[Clarkkent]

It's not "brit bashing" - it's cheaper to just bar risky people now rather than deal with possibly infected blood in your banks.

It depends how you define "cheaper" and "risky". Since the first identified death from vCJD in 1995 there have been 156 deaths in the UK and 12 in France. According to a study reported in New Scientist there may be no more than 40 deaths still to come. Figures such as these do not fill me with the fear that Britons are walking time bombs ready to inflict dreadful death on anyone receiving products made from their blood. My judgement would be that the benefits obtained from blood available from British donors would be considerable.

[pinkfluff<P>Big Wet Drops and Lots of Them, Are a Sure Sign of Rain!<P>]

What a shame I will have to keep all my blood now and I was looking forward to giving a bit of blood for France

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote]I would have thought that there was a far greater risk of contracting HIV than BSE through blood donations. Is it that it is easier to detect the HIV virus than BSE?[/quote]

Unfortunately, yes it is far more difficult to detect the agent that is thought to cause BSE (called a "prion") and usually only definitively possible after death, though prgress is being made on this. It should also be noted that the scientific community is by no means agreed on the cause of BSE/CJD/vCJD. Chemical causes, organophosphate pesticides for example, are still being considered. Until this is clarified, it is difficult to blame countries for being cautious.