Dear editor,
I am very concerned to learn that Canada Plasma Resources wants to open private, pay-for-plasma clinics in B.C. There are so many reasons to oppose these clinics.
The sale of any human body part, including sperm, eggs, embryos and blood products is prohibited in Canada.
There is no shortage of plasma in Canada. In fact, the Canadian Blood Services ships surplus plasma to the States to be turned into plasma products that are imported back into Canada.
None of the plasma collected at the proposed clinics will be used in Canada. It will all be exported as part of the $11 billion annual plasma market.
Financial incentives to donate could attract donors from vulnerable populations who could lie about their health status, compromising the safety of the plasma collected. The payments offered for plasma could be a disincentive for voluntary donors to our public system, creating blood shortages as happened in Austria and Germany in 2006 and 2007.
The World Health Organization recommends that all pay-for-plasma businesses should be phased out worldwide by 2020.
I urge the provincial government to follow the lead of Ontario and Quebec and introduce legislation that bans paying donors for blood in B.C.
Kathie Woodley
Courtenay