Can I donate blood for money in Russia?

The practice of paid donation in Russia until recently has flourished. Some people in the literal sense of the word "earned" on blood. It was true that it could not bring much money, but ... Those wishing to donate blood for money paid 580 rubles for one collection. Thus the person was deprived approximately 400 ml of a precious liquid. According to medical recommendations, this procedure can be repeated every two weeks, but many people who constantly need money managed to donate blood for money ten times a month. Since January this year, they have no such opportunity.

Free donation is a normal practice for European countries, but in Russia this innovation led to a sharp reduction in people willing to share their blood with their neighbors. Many clinics began to experience a deficit of donors, which affected the recovery of their patients. Therefore, some cities initiated a possibility to pay blood at the municipal level . Moscow for money accepts donors at the same reception points as before, simply the local budget pays for their "sacrifice" not the state, but the local budget.

According to the new law, services for the collection of platelets, granulocytes and blood plasma remained fee-paying . These procedures are somewhat more complicated than the "usual" surrender, which lasts about fifteen minutes and consists in the fact that blood flows from a vein of any hand through a syringe into a special vessel. The collection of platelets, for example, lasts a couple of days. First, the patient takes the necessary amount of blood, check for lack of disease. Then, 400 ml of the platelets are extracted from it, and the "purified" blood is poured back to the donor. For such a procedure, the donor, as a rule, has to stay permanently in the clinic. Restoration after the delivery of platelets is longer.

Despite the legislative innovations, it is possible to donate blood for money in Russia. The law does not prohibit such practices, simply does not provide for payment from the state budget for this direction. The opinion of doctors, public figures, politicians and the needy in this regard are divided. The adherents of the new law argue its usefulness by the fact that many people for whom blood money was previously considered a good part-time job will be deprived of this opportunity. And this is good, because very often the lifestyle of these people was far from healthy, which often led to infection of patients with various infectious diseases, including AIDS.

Now, according to opponents of paid donation, only people who knowingly decided to help others and are confident that they can not harm the needy will share their blood.

Opponents of free donation are ready to argue with them. According to them, earlier there were problems with the presence of blood of the necessary group and rhesus, and now even critical situations are possible. The likelihood of infecting a patient through a transfusion should be reduced to "no" by properly checking the raw materials.

Whether the European practice of free donation will take root in the conditions of the Russian mentality, time will tell. In the meantime, despite the new law, in any clinic you will be told how and where to donate blood for money.