EDITOR, The Tribune
I WATCHED with interest this evening an appeal on ZNS news for donations of blood from The Princess Margaret Blood Bank, Doctors Hospital Blood Bank and The Bahamas Red Cross.
My blood type is O Negative. People with O Negative blood are considered universal donors and make up just 6.6 per cent of the population. I have no blood born diseases, I have never been treated for cancer and I am never anaemic. Despite this, none of the blood banks will take my blood because, as I jokingly tell my friends, I am English.
Despite having lived exclusively in The Bahamas since 1991, I did for a while live in the UK and the fear is that I, and all the other British expats living in the Bahamas, will pass on the deadly disease known as Creutzfeld-Jakob Diease (CJD), the human version of “Mad Cow Disease”.
In 1991 in the UK, there were 36 deaths from CJD out of a population of 57.42 million people. Any Bahamian travelling to the UK and eating a burger from any burger chain has as much chance of transmitting CJD as I do. There is no consistency in this rule, and I suspect little science.
British people are pretty generous when it comes to giving blood, especially if there is a can of Guinness on offer at the end of it. It therefore makes good sense to rethink this policy. Donating blood would be an excellent way for people like me to thank Bahamians for the privilege of living in their marvellous country.
ELIZABETH HAWKINS RN
Nassau,
July 18, 2016
Comments
sunsetbeachvillabahamas 7 years, 9 months ago
Elizabeth Hawkins letter on British blood donors needs clarifying in case the wrong impression was given. The Bahamas is properly following the strict global rules on not accepting blood from any donor who has previously lived in the UK and this is a PERMANENT ban. I am a British subject who has had the wonderful advantage of permanently living on the beautiful island of Exuma since 1999.I have also been a blood donor in the UK for 50 years.When was recently over there I specifically asked the National Blood Transfusion service about this ban.They advised that it will never be changed as there is no cure for CJD and no certainty how long it may remain undiscovered in a person. The risks may be small but precautions are necessary although I can continue donating blood when in the UK
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