Family/friend donors are not true voluntary donors

Abstract

Background:Family/replacement donors still provide more than 45% of the blood collected in India. National AIDS Control Organization passed the guideline that family/friend donors should be considered as voluntary donors by the blood banks in India.Materials and Methods:We did a prospective analysis of Transfusion Transmitted Infections (TTI′s) on our family donors for the years 2009 and 2010 to compare the results and evaluate if family donors are as safe as voluntary donors.Result:The prevalence of Human Immunodeficiency Virus, Hepatitis B surface antigen, Hepatitis C Virus, and Anti-Treponema Palladium antibody was much higher in family donors in comparison to voluntary donors.Conclusion:Family donors cannot be included amongst voluntary-non-remunerated blood donors as they have a higher rate of TTIs.

Pattern of blood donor deferral in a tertiary hospital, South-south, Nigeria: A three-year study review

“…Some studies have shown that family replacement donors are not true voluntary blood donors since they donate under family influence and in some cases, are hired commercial blood donors who pretend to be family members or relatives. Hence, they may not disclose relevant medical information such as previous history of jaundice or multiple unprotected sexual exposures [26]. The implication of this is that false medical information will be obtained from such donors and this may ultimately compromise the safety of the entire blood collection process.…”

Trend of Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAg) among blood donors at the blood bank of a tertiary care referral teaching hospital in Southern India

“…This is comparable to the observations of Sinha SK et al, 10 1.37% by Jain R, Gupta G (2012). 11 The prevalence of HBsAg either higher or lower observed may depend on actual prevalence of HBV infection in general population, repetition of the initial seroreactive samples and technical errors causing high or low absorbance value.…”

Can a decentralized blood supply system reach 100% voluntary nonremunerated donation?

“…Lebanon has much relied on replacement donations; however, replacement donors cannot be considered as VNRD . Indeed, replacement donors are often placed under some form of coercion to give blood for their sick relatives and some do not return for a second donation until someone in their environment is in need, meaning that they are not converted to VNRD .…”

“…They usually tend to arrive to the HBB in groups, accompanied by family members to donate blood to save the life of a given sick relative of theirs; such gesture is believed to avoid displeasing families or friends. Hence, they may conceal some information about their health or lifestyle behaviors just so that they can effectively donate, while VNRD would not hide important information relative to their own health or to infectious risks for recipients of their donated blood . Indeed, such behavior can adversely affect their own health, increase the risk of transfusion‐transmitted infections, and create additional financial burden on the HBB because any infected BC has nevertheless a cost for processing, testing, and destruction .…”