Blood transfusion is specialized medicine, it's like you are donating an organ and that you see it being done every now and then, everywhere does not make it less dangerous as compared to kidney, lungs, liver or heart donation and transplant; a whole lot of things can go wrong even when the proper precautions are taken.
That is one of the reasons a lot of precautions have to be put in place to avoid the myriads of complications they may arise from blood transfusion.
Moreover, "denying you the opportunity" to donate blood may actually be in your (the donor) best interest, all you need to know are the conditions that must be fulfilled for you to qualify to donate blood.
Below are the conditions for eligibility for blood donation:
Donors, who should be between 18-65 and over 51kg in weight should be:
1. Fit : That means -
Hemoglobin of over 13.5g/dl in males and over 12.5g/dl in females.
No major operation in the last 6 months.
No pregnancy withing the last 12 months.
No blood donation in the past 6 months.
No clinical malaria in the past one (1) month in endemic areas.
No blood transfusion within the past 12 months.
Free from severe hypertension, splenomegaly, hepatomegaly, bleeding disorder or allergic conditions such as asthma.
2. Free of history or clinical evidence and not carriers of the following diseases:
Viral hepatitis
HIV infection
Syphilis
Trypanosomiasis
Brucellosis
3. The blood should be non-reactive for the VDRL test and negative for malarial parasites, hepatitis surface antigen (HBsAg), Hepatitis C virus antibody. HIV I + II antibody and HTLVI antibody.
4. Not vaccinated within the last 3 weeks.
5. Must not belong to any of the risk groups for HIV infection e.g. homosexuals, IV drug abusers or prostitutes and their clients.
So the next time you are "disqualified" from donating blood, just take it in your stride and move on to other available options.
[more: Health Benefits of Being a Blood Donor]
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