The Circulatory System: Blood Procurement, AIDS, and the Social Body in China

Abstract

The market for blood thrived in China for more than a decade, preying on rural villagers desperate for cash. Profit motives and unhygienic collection created an AIDS epidemic, where now up to 80 percent of adults in some villages are HIV infected. Today, illegal blood banks continue to operate in some areas. Moreover, better screening and blood testing do little to address the underlying cultural reluctance to give blood. This article examines what is at stake for blood donors in the circulation of blood through both the physical and the social bodies in China today. I argue that public health and social policy solutions require consideration of the symbolic meanings of blood and the body, kin relations, and gift exchange. China's HIV-contaminated blood procurement crisis demands a critical reexamination of the hidden processes embedded in a "circulatory system" that has inseparably bound the "gift of life" and a "commodity of death".

Blood Donor Management in China

“…ii) Chinese traditional beliefs: There is a deeply rooted traditional belief in China that blood is associated with Qi, or life vitality, and therefore blood donation will result in irreversible loss of blood and Qi, and have a long-term negative impact on health and energy [5,22,23,24]. In a study 21.9% of the surveyed donors thought that the loss of any amount of blood would have a detrimental effect on health; 8.6% thought that blood donation would substantially weaken health, vitality or overall immunity, and 3.1% thought the blood lost from a donation is enough to affect the flow of Qi.…”

Forbidden exchanges and gender: implications for blood donation during a maternal health emergency in Punjab, Pakistan

“…Blood donation and transfusion are, as Erwin (2006) suggests, 'as much a cultural, social and economic phenomenon as a biomedical one' (142). Walby (2006) more specifically argues that, in order to understand fully the dynamic nature of tissue economies, it is important to understand the particular relationships between those involved in the tissue exchange as well as emic understandings of bodily substance.…”

“…The relationship between gender and blood donation has been established in the literature (Erwin 2006;Copeman 2009;Street 2009). In many countries, including Pakistan, blood donation rates among women are significantly lower than men (Singh et al 2002;Javadzadeh Shahshahani et al 2006;Al-Drees 2008;Gharehbaghian 2012;Mumtaz, Bowen, and Mumtaz 2012).…”

Doctors and Vampires in Sub-Saharan Africa: Ethical Challenges in Clinical Trial Research

“…The fear of giving blood has been reported across sub-Saharan Africa and has been associated with conceptions of blood as a lifeforce,4–6 with beliefs that a lack of blood is a sign of diminished strength and inherent disease7–10 and with notions of blood being a tradable good, requiring remuneration 4. In still other settings, such as in Gabon and certain other African countries, these fears are often linked to mystical realms of reality.…”