Dear Editor:
I am writing in response to last week’s letter about donating blood.
I am an immigrant from the United Kingdom and have been in Canada for more than 20 years. I started donating blood while an agricultural student in the UK, and have donated in the UK, New Zealand, and Canada.
When BSE hit, Canadian Blood Services was afraid of another problem like the tainted blood scandal with HIV/AIDS and since there is no easy test for Creutzfedlt Jacob Disease (CJD) all European donors were struck off the eligible list if we lived in Europe on a certain date.
I feel like a second-class citizen as neither my blood nor my organs can be donated in Canada. I have investigated this at length and if I die here my organs won’t be sent to the UK for use since they are not good enough for Canadian use and to send them abroad would be setting a double standard. If I wish I can donate blood while I am on holiday in the UK (no worries if I may have West Nile Virus), and if I happen to die there then all of my organs will be good to donate.
I have queried if I could donate blood for research projects — no.
The only positive thing I can do is — if having elective surgery give blood to be used on myself. I haven’t had elective surgery yet in my 46 years, so this may be a redundant option.
It frustrates me when I see all the advertising for blood donors, but until the Canadian Blood Services decides that CJD isn’t really a big risk, a large number of potential donors remain on the sidelines.
Mary Leighton