Compensating Plasma Donors Would Increase Donations

Without more donors, the New Zealand Blood Service warns we will rely more heavily on imported plasma products.

They’re right. And Alberta, Canada, shows a better way. Compensating donors results in more donations.

Professor Peter Jaworski is a Georgetown University expert in the economics and ethics of blood and plasma donation.

His report on blood plasma donation for the Macdonald-Laurier Institute was co-released today by the New Zealand Initiative.

“The most important bottom-line results are these,” writes Jaworski. “Every country that permits the commercial model to operate within its borders has surplus plasma collections… Every country that prohibits the commercial model or donor compensation has plasma collection deficits.”

“These countries do not collect enough plasma to meet the therapeutic needs of their patient communities, and so to meet their patients’ needs they rely on imports of therapies made from plasma collected using commercial, compensated plasma collections… There are no exceptions.”

Alberta, a Canadian province of 4.4 million people, shows a way forward.

In late 2020, Alberta removed its ban on uncompensated donations. Three commercial centres have since opened. Alberta is on track to be the only Canadian province self-sufficient in plasma.

New Zealand Initiative Chief Economist Dr Eric Crampton said, “No good is done if New Zealand’s ban on compensated donation only results in reliance on other countries’ paid donors.”

He added, “Allowing compensated donation would do right by donors while increasing local supplies. We should follow Alberta’s lead.”

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