Donor associations, a key link between donors and blood centres

Abstract

Why start a voluntary donor association?The mission of a donor organization is to ensure that there is always sufficient blood and blood products to all patients in all hospitals within a defined area.In this article, I will try to outline why and how a volunteer association can help to ensure full sufficiency in safe blood.A donor association can defend ethical and political interests of the blood supply (and hence the patients) and protect donors against exploitation.A national donor organization may benefit from international co-operation -and it can represent donors with the government, the blood service, other voluntary organizations etc.But focus must be on donor recruitment and retention, not on specific donor interest; otherwise, the association will quickly disappear, as voluntary donors in their overall majority are altruistic people, not looking for protection of their own narrow interests.Donor associations should be funded by the government and not by private sponsors, as volunteers should use their energies on information, recruitment and retention and not on fund-raising.All Ministers of Health have promised to work for full sufficiency in safe blood, and funding of recruitment and retention of donors is a vital function in any blood supply.If the association shall provide a steady inflow of volunteer donor recruiters and voluntary, non-remunerated donors, the act of blood donation must be surrounded by the highest respect, so there shall be no profit in handling the gift of blood.But services rendered by blood establishments and paid assistants to the volunteers may, of course, be reimbursed at generally acceptable levels. Essential replications of an efficient donor organization

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