|
Related Sites The American Association of Blood Bank
|
The GAO finds blood supply tight, but not an emergency
Posted
10-4-99 Washington. The much-hyped blood shortage crisis of 2000 may not be such a crisis after all, reports the General Accounting Office. The GAO, at the behest of the House Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Health, looked into the possibility of a blood donation shortage in 2000 and found that the so-called crisis had been exaggerated. On Sept. 23, the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee of the House Commerce Committee held hearings on blood safety and availability. The subcommittee focused in part on the GAO report. Officials from the American Association of Blood Banks were also present to testify before the committee, maintaining that the need for blood will increase in the future and offering possible ways to reduce blood usage. The AABB was unavailable for further comment. "We concluded there is room for concern, and we know there are regular shortages of certain blood types," said Judy Heinrich, GAO study leader. "But individual blood banks have been able to get more blood and meet the demand." Though Heinrich says demand won't outstrip the supply any time soon, there are some immediate worries. The Food and Drug Administration's recent ban on donations by anyone who has spent six months or more in Britain since 1980, when the mad cow disease outbreak began, has affected donation numbers. Experts say another factor is the practice of people donating several pints of their own blood for future surgery. Heinrich said that could help explain the 5.5 percent drop-off in donations since 1995. And blood types A and O have already experienced seasonal shortages, though Heinrich insists that's a normal occurrence. If the crisis isn't quite imminent, when will demand outstrip supply? Heinrich said the GAO didn't make a prediction, but there's no reason to think it will happen soon. "We can never give more blood than we have," Heinrich said. "We can always import blood. We don't import blood much now. Also, when there are crises, people are more likely to give. It's all very dynamic."
|