blood donations

A worker separates bags of donated blood at a campaign organized by the Rotary Blood Bank in New Delhi, India.

Health & Safety

Here are 3 solutions to get blood to folks in 'blood deserts.' One is often illegal

8:54am April 11, 2024

by Simar Bajaj

Doctors have coined a term to describe places where blood for transfusions is not readily available: "blood deserts." When blood banks aren't around, they try different strategies to help patients.

Health & Safety

Red Cross seeking blood donations as numbers tumble to 20-year low

4:45pm January 12, 2024

by Paul Garber

The American Red Cross says a 20-year-low in the number of people giving blood has prompted an emergency appeal. Triad donations are even lower than the national level.

The U.S. is moving to ease restrictions on blood donations from gay and bisexual men and other groups that traditionally face higher risks of HIV. Here, tubes direct blood from a donor into a bag in Davenport, Iowa, on Friday, Nov. 11, 2022.

More gay and bisexual men will now be able to donate blood under finalized FDA rules

8:50pm May 11, 2023

by Jonathan Franklin

While the number of people eligible to donate blood has expanded, the agency says it will continue to monitor the safety of the blood supply.

An expected change in FDA policy would make it easier for men who have sex with men to donate blood.

Health & Safety

FDA moves to ease restrictions on blood donations for men who have sex with men

3:59pm January 27, 2023

Long criticized as discriminatory, the policy has prevented many gay and bisexual men from donating blood. The Food and Drug Administration revealed a draft of its new approach on Friday.

Weather

Hurricane Ian could disrupt blood supplies, organization says

2:46pm September 26, 2022

by Paul Garber

A nonprofit that supplies blood to area hospitals is asking people to make donations before Hurricane Ian potentially disrupts supplies.

A phlebotomist tends to a blood donor during the Starts, Stripes, and Pints blood drive event in Louisville, Ky., in July. Rising numbers of organ transplants, trauma cases, and elective surgeries postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic have caused an increase

Doctors and patients are facing tough choices because of the national blood crisis

8:56pm January 13, 2022

by Jonathan Franklin

The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to a 62% drop in blood drives at schools and colleges, according to the American Red Cross.

Gay and bisexual men in England, Scotland, and Wales can now donate blood, plasma and platelets under certain circumstances without having to wait three months, the National Health Service announced this week.

Gay And Bisexual Men Are Now Allowed To Donate Blood In England, Scotland And Wales

3:00am June 16, 2021

by Jaclyn Diaz

The shift in health policy in most of the U.K. reverses a decades-old rule that limited donor eligibility on perceived risks of contracting HIV/AIDs and other sexually transmitted infections.

The U.K. announced new rules for blood donation that are defined by individual behaviors, rather than sexuality and gender.

U.K. Will Make It Easier For Gay And Bisexual Men To Donate Blood

4:23pm December 14, 2020

by Laurel Wamsley

"Donors will no longer be asked to declare if they have had sex with another man, making the criteria for blood donation gender neutral and more inclusive," the National Health Service explains.

Lillan Bloodworth (left) with her late husband John Bloodworth, at their home in Gulf Breeze, Fla. Lillian, now 92, donated 23 gallons of blood over five decades.

By Age 85, She'd Given 23 Gallons Of Blood: 'Because I Can'

5:01am March 27, 2020

Lillian Bloodworth, now 92, says when she first started to give blood, other donors would read her name tag and ask if that was really her name or if it was a gimmick for the blood bank.

James Harrison, known as "the man with the golden arm," is pictured in 2003, when he was recognized for the number of times he had donated blood. At the time it was his 808th donation. The Australian man has now donated well over 1,000 times.

Australia's 'Man With The Golden Arm' Retires After Saving 2.4 Million Babies

5:38pm May 14, 2018

by Camila Domonoske

James Harrison, 81, has a rare antibody that can help treat a condition affecting pregnant women. He's donated plasma 1,173 times. But now he's aged out of the donation program.