Wouter wants to donate blood plasma – the liquid part of the blood that contains antibodies, among other things, because he thinks he had corona in March. “My housemate had corona. I couldn’t get a test, but I had the same symptoms and was in bed with a fever for a week.”
Corona antibodies
That is why Wouter saw himself as the designated ‘donation candidate’, because the Sanquin blood bank would like ex-corona patients to donate plasma. “Blood plasma with antibodies against corona is badly needed for a drug or treatment for corona. So I thought: great, I have been a blood donor for years, so I will give plasma,” says Wouter.
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But a phone call to the blood bank told him he’s not welcome. “They told me that the policy is not to donate plasma if you have ever had sex with a man. So they refused me.”
Boos
Wouter finds that very strange. The blood bank website states that men should not donate blood for 4 months if they had sex with a man.
“I’d like to help, I think they desperately need it. If this policy is, I’m upset about it. Refusing someone after 3.5 years is, in my opinion, discrimination and has nothing to do with safety.”
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The Sanquin blood bank agrees that the refusal has nothing to do with safety. “If whole blood is donated, it will only be used within the Netherlands,” explains a spokesperson. “But medicines are made from plasma – also against corona – that are used in the Netherlands and abroad.”
Conservative world
In short: the plasma goes all over the world. “There are international agreements about rules with which raw materials for medicines must comply.”
So those rules also apply to plasma that is used internationally, she says. “The plasma world is more conservative than the Netherlands. The rule is: once you have had sex with a man, you can no longer donate plasma. We must adhere to that in the Netherlands.”
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Safe
While the plasma is actually safe when a man has not had sex with a man for 4 months, she agrees. “We test the blood for viruses and after 4 months, viruses with a longer incubation period, such as hepatitis B, can be detected in blood.”
So Sanquin also finds this very annoying. “We appreciate it when someone wants to help. It feels really bad that we have to refuse. We can’t accept it.”
In any case, Wouter goes to the Human Rights College. “The blood is just safe.”
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