Individuals with certain blood cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma, are not eligible to donate. If you are unsure about your eligibility, please call to speak with one of our trained health professionals at 1 888 2 DONATE (1 888 236-6283).
Due to the small potential risk of acquiring Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, you are not eligible to donate if you have: Spent a cumulative total of three months or more in the United Kingdom (UK) between January 1980 and December 31, 1996.
General health issues that won't allow people to donate blood. You can't donate blood if any of these general health issues apply to you: Fever (above 99.5°F) or an acute infection at the time of donation, or feel unwell, have a cold, flu, or trouble breathing. Pregnancy.
This rule was because of the UK outbreak of human variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), often known as 'mad cow disease'. It's a fatal disease that can incubate undetected in someone for many years. There's no screening test either, which means we can't test for it in blood donations.
Since 1999, the FDA had prohibited donations from these individuals out of fear they could transmit variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), commonly referred to as mad cow disease.
People who lived in the United Kingdom for over 6 months between 1980 and 1996 can now give blood in Australia. Yep, blood donors from the UK are A-OK!
The expert also explained that the reason why there were stricter eligibility criteria in place for Latin American candidates in Australia was due to the possibility that they may carry some type of infectious condition in their blood that could prove detrimental for patients in Australia.
Maximum age for blood donation: 75 for first-time donors
You can become a first-time blood, plasma or platelet donor any time up until your 76th birthday (but you can only give platelets if you've given plasma before).
The safety of the blood system is paramount. And one more: significant efforts should be made to ensure that the blood products used in Canada are made from the blood and plasma of unpaid donors. Reflecting that principle, Ontario, B.C. and Quebec all prohibit the practice of paying donors for blood and blood products.
Yes, seniors can donate blood!
While there used to be an upper age limit for donors in Canada, Canadian Blood Services (who oversees the blood system across Canada—except for Quebec, where Héma-Québec operates) removed that policy in 2015.
Canadian Blood Services does not pay donors for blood, plasma or any other kind of donation.
In April 2022, Canadian Blood Services made historic changes to its eligibility criteria, removing a three-month deferral period on blood donations from gay and bisexual men, as well as from some others in the LGBTQ2S+ community.
Canadian Blood Services tests all blood for the following diseases: syphilis, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV-1 and 2, Human T-Cell lymphotropic virus HTLV-I and II, and West Nile Virus. Testing for Chagas disease is done on at risk donors and testing for Cytomegalovirus is done selectively as appropriate.
To donate blood, hemoglobin must be at least 125 g/L (12.5 g/dL) for women and 130 g/L (13.0 g/dL) for men.
Because there is no blood test to check for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (mad cow disease) in humans, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has “indefinitely deferred” donations from anyone who lived in certain parts of Europe for three months or more between 1980 and 1996, according to the Red Cross.
Blood donations are not tested for malaria because there is no sensitive blood test available for malaria. If you have traveled or lived in a malaria-risk country, a waiting period is required before you can donate blood. Wait 3 years after completing treatment for malaria.
Results: Of the 389 340 blood donations reported by donors aged 16 to 69 years (98.7% of all donations), the collections were from white (77.7%), African American (16.3%), Hispanic (2.3%), Asian (2.2%), and other (1.6%) donors. Forty- to 49-year-olds (26.8%) donated the highest percentage of units.
Where blood and blood products come from. Australia is self-sufficient in fresh blood products. Each year, 1 in 30 people give blood (3% of Australians).
Yes, you can! There used to be a rule preventing people who lived in the UK between 1980 and 1996 from giving blood in Australia, but it was changed on 25 July 2022. The rule was related to the fatal variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD, the human form of the bovine condition sometimes known as 'mad cow disease').
In addition to those travelling or studying overseas, the NBA may also facilitate the supply of blood products for those Australians serving overseas and in international waters, such as the Australian Defence Force, Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Australian Antarctic Division.
In principle, anyone between the ages of 18 and 68 can donate blood as long as there are no health concerns and certain criteria are met. For example, being underweight or pregnant could pose a health risk for donation. Piercings and tattoos or a trip to the tropics can also prevent a blood donation.
You must be in good health at the time you donate. You cannot donate if you have a cold, flu, sore throat, cold sore, stomach bug or any other infection. If you have recently had a tattoo or body piercing you cannot donate for 6 months from the date of the procedure.
There is no longer a deferral for travel, residence or transfusion in the United Kingdom, Ireland, and France from 1980 to present, which was previously considered a geographic risk of possible exposure to vCJD.