Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 29 November 2016
496. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Health the categories of the population that are currently prevented from giving blood; and the percentage of the population that falls within these categories. [36846/16]
View answerThe IBTS has extensive deferral criteria for donors, and only a minority of these are permanent. The rate in donor deferral in the year to date is 21.96% and the most common categories for deferral are as follows:
|
Category of Deferral |
% of Deferrals |
|
Low Haemoglobin |
39.93% |
|
Recent medical investigation |
5.23% |
|
Donor left clinic |
3.1% |
|
Actively deferred |
2.98% |
|
Letter required from GP/Consultant |
2.76% |
|
Recently had an infectious disease |
2.38% |
|
Had/has a cold sore |
2.37% |
|
Visited malarial area |
2.16% |
As many individuals de-select themselves from donating blood due to the fact that they know they fall into a deferral category, the statistics available to the IBTS are based on those who attend clinics, rather than the population as a whole. In 2016 to date, 102,009 people have given a total of 113,652 blood donations.
