More than 40 percent of the blood donated annually in Taiwan is unable to be used to manufacture blood plasma, Taiwan Blood Services Foundation chairperson Yeh Chin-chuan (葉金川) said yesterday at an international seminar on blood plasma.
Blood plasma, extracted from blood by spinning a tube of fresh blood in a centrifuge containing anticoagulant, is responsible for holding blood cells in whole blood in suspension and is used as a protein reserve for the body.
Yeh said that more than half of the donated blood supply is unable to be processed into blood plasma, partly due to insufficient blood mass and partly due to the blood not meeting the requirements for it to be made into blood plasma.
Most of Taiwan’s donated blood is sent to Australia for processing into blood plasma due to a lack of domestic facilities.
Taiwan’s blood donation bags come in two sizes, 250cc and 500cc, of which only the 500cc can be processed into blood plasma products, as the lowest amount required is 400cc, Yeh said.
Over 1.2 million people have donated blood in 250cc bags, while only 650,000 have donated blood in 500cc quantities, Yeh said.
However, blood that is not made into blood plasma is not wasted, Yeh said, adding that most is directly distributed to hospitals to provide blood for whole blood transfusions.
Taipei Medical University Graduate Institute of Biomedical Materials and Tissue Engineering director Thierry Burnouf said medical studies have shown that only people who weigh more than 60kg are considered “physically safe” to donate blood in 500cc quantities as their bodies’ reproduction of cells and blood are capable of sustaining the loss.
Burnouf said Taiwan has the highest blood donation rate in Asia and encouraged more people to donate up to 500cc of blood to help the nation increase its blood plasma reserves.
NATIONAL SECURITY: Authorities are working to confirm the identities of the military personnel involved and investigating possible illegal conduct and regulatory violations Authorities are probing possible national security implications after Kinmen police and immigration officers on Sunday found a Chinese woman allegedly posing as a tourist while engaging in prostitution involving more than 10 military personnel. The woman, surnamed Chen (陳), has since been deported, authorities said, adding that investigators are still working to confirm the identities of those implicated, as the records only listed code names and aliases. The case stemmed from a report received by the Kinmen District Prosecutors’ Office on Friday last week from the Jinhu Precinct of the Kinmen County Police Bureau. On Sunday, police, along with the National Immigration
STAY COOL: The HPA recommended that people stay hydrated, use air-conditioning or fans while indoors, wear loose-fitting clothes and walk in the shade while outdoors Employers must implement measures such as installing cooling equipment, and providing drinking water and rest breaks for outdoor workers starting from Monday next week, the Taipei Department of Labor said on Sunday. Employers who fail to comply could face fines of NT$30,000 to NT$300,000 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法), the department said. Businesses in Taipei employing fewer than 100 workers, as well as registered self-employed workers with labor insurance coverage, could receive on-site assessments and guidance from occupational safety consultants to help them apply for central government subsidies to implement or improve heat-protection measures, it said. Under the Ministry of
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) yesterday briefed her party’s Central Standing Committee regarding her scheduled visit to the US between Monday next week and June 16, saying that her purpose would be to persuade the US that the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution was a “one China” constitution that would foster stable and peaceful cross-strait relations. The ROC Constitution is the most important defense for all Taiwanese citizens, as it upholds our democracy and has contributed to our robust economy, which aligns with international and US interests, she said. “We would not be troublemakers and drag the US under,”
RSS