We must reject blood money

By Max Freedman

I relish giving blood. Really.

It is not because I gain some fetishistic pleasure from the deep scratch of the needle in my vein, but because the purely selfless action of giving blood for others brings a wonderful sense of serenity. I cannot think of anything else that I do that feels so worthwhile. It could almost be a definition of the Big Society.

And so of course the government plans to privatise it.

To be precise, the government are planning to outsource the transportation of blood stocks to private companies such as DHL and TNT, which has raised concerns as private carriers will not be permitted to use blue sirens and so are less likely to deliver emergency stocks in time. While they claim that they will not be privatising the donation process itself, they will not rule this out. In a Westminster Hall debate yesterday, the Public Health Minster, Anne Milton, said:

“What matters is that people get good value for money from the taxes that they pay.”

Of course there are reforms that need to take place to our blood donor system to improve it – only 4% of the population currently give. Most obviously, the ban on gay men giving blood should be overturned. All blood that is donated is screened currently, and to discriminate against potential gay donors is insulting and deprives the nation of vital blood stocks.

But the last thing that our blood service needs is to be associated with monetary gain. As someone who has regularly given blood over the past thirteen years and proudly pins my Silver Award for more than 25 donations to my wall, I know that the motivation that donors have – to do good – will be completely undermined by the introduction of the profit motive to the blood service. This has been shown by the experience of New Zealand, where studies showed that over half of donors would be less likely to give in these circumstances.

The good news is that UNITE are battling these plans hard. Over 37,000 people have already signed the petition against the government’s plans. I urge everyone to sign it, and tweet your opposition using #bloodmoney. This is worth doing. While the government has ploughed ahead with its destructive economic policies, it has been forced into U-turns on smaller, but symbolic issues, from free school milk, to school sports, to privatisation of the forests. This is a government that is terrified of the PR consequences of emotive issues – and the blood service is as emotive as you can get. This is a campaign that we can fight, and that we must win.

Whatever the outcome, I will continue to give blood – I feel that it is my duty; but privatisation would tragically strip away any sense of contributing to something special.