Blood donation

I refer to the letter My Blood Is Boiling (May 20).

The Blood Bank in Malta, in conjunction with most blood banks outside the UK, has been deferring blood donors who have been to the UK for a cumulative period of six months between 1980 and 1996. This has caused a considerable strain on services as quite a number of altruistic perfectly healthy donors have unfortunately been deferred. Understandably, these donors have been disappointed with this directive.

This issue has especially come to the forefront with two cases of transmission of vCJD (human variant of mad cow disease agent), probably by blood transfusion in the UK. Deferral of these donors is due to the theoretical risk of having eaten contaminated beef in this at-risk period, although there is an extremely small risk that any of these people have acquired the agent. Due to the limited knowledge of the disease, blood banking science "errs" on the side of prudence, to ensure as much as possible a safe and sustainable blood supply.

An important aspect for blood safety is the honesty of the blood donor. The Maltese National Blood Transfusion Centre relies on the honesty of the individual and one simple question is very relevant: "Will you give this blood to your most loved ones?". Donors are requested to sign the questionnaire as an official document that, to their knowledge, they are stating the truth.

Hopefully, advances in science will lead to the removal of this directive, which has caused considerable problems for the Maltese National Blood Transfusion Centre and understandable disappointment to affected donors.