Posted on: 05-04-07 08:27:22
Quote:
Originally posted by dp_jain
I do not remember having had malaria over last ten years. How can they treat people coming from Asian countries like this?
It is nothing against Asian countries ... it is just that they have eradicted Malaria from Canada so they dont want to it to come back into the system. Blood tranfusion can lead to transmittion of Malaria so these are precautionary measures. For complete update on the revised policy check http://www.bloodservices.ca/centreapps/internet/uw_v502_mainengine.nsf/page/E_malaria-deferrals. It seems they are revising the policy from April 2,2007 so they are informing all the donars about it.
On this note i might add that in the US to be eligible for blood donation they have similar guidelines. If you have had blood tranfusion in UK since 1980 , you may not be able to donate blood. Not that they dont like the British or there blood , but some scare about the mad cow disease.
I have donated blood regularly here but haven’t done so in the last six months because of my busy schedule. The first time when I had gone for blood donation they had raised the query that since I was from India they would not accept my blood and that I would have to wait for 3 years. I explained to them that I had moved from Dubai and after verifying their records they told me that I was eligible to donate blood. It was a bit surprising for me because I used to visit India twice a year when I was in Dubai. What if I had been infected with malaria virus during these visits?
Blood donation here is a bit time consuming because of all the paper work but it’s a noble gesture. Also you are offered free cookies (TK are you listening?
) although I have declined it every time. In Oman when we used to donate blood we were given a token present like a watch or CD player along with refreshments.
I think it’s difficult to detect the presence of malaria virus in blood and for patients who are suspected of having malaria the blood samples for testing are taken immediately after they have a bout of high fever.
A humble request for all CD members who are eligible to donate blood, please do it. You are saving a life
Nikhil
