Did you know?
Your blood contains a yellow liquid packed with lifesaving proteins - called plasma - which helps your blood clot after an injury and allows your body to defend against infections.
Plasma is used to create medicines which are used to treat people with rare diseases. Donating plasma saves lives!
Plasma is used to create medicines which are used to treat people with rare diseases. Donating plasma saves lives!
Canadian Blood Services and Hema-Quebec are able to supply less than 14% of the demand for plasma for Canadian patients through their voluntary collection systems. We purchase the rest from the United States, where people get paid for their plasma. In fact, with their compensated collection system, United States plasma donors provide about 70% of the global demand for plasma.
"Ontario relies heavily on suppliers in the United States for essential and high-demand blood products including immunoglobulins (Ig), which is fractionated from plasma collected by these suppliers. This reliance on US-based suppliers presents a risk to the health of people in Ontario who need these products, should the supply chain be disrupted. Both the Ministry and Canadian Blood Services first acknowledged this risk in 2013. However, the percentage of Ig made from plasma collected by Canadian Blood Services has steadily decreased since then, and is now down to 13.7% compared to 22.7% in 2013/14."
- Office of the Auditor General of Ontario Annual report, December 8, 2020
- Office of the Auditor General of Ontario Annual report, December 8, 2020
Canada's current system for collecting plasma as the key ingredient in plasma-derived medicines is clearly inadequate.
The NRBDO supports Canadian Blood Services' plan to increase plasma self-sufficiency to 50-60%, in part through a public-private partnership for plasma collection. |