“Give the blood that you want to receive”: head of Czech Red Cross on Czechia's donor shortage
The Prague City Council recently approved the awarding of a free annual pass for the city's public transport system, worth CZK 3,650, to volunteer blood donors who have donated at least 80 times. According to the Czech Red Cross there are currently about 250,000 regular blood donors in Czechia – but the country is still short of at least 50,000.
I spoke to Karol Čukan, Secretary General of the Czech Red Cross, to find out whether and how it is possible for foreigners living in Czechia to donate blood, what the barriers are to entry, and why I myself am not allowed to donate.
How does blood donation work in Czechia - is there a centralised national service or is it run by charities like the Czech Red Cross?
"It's a little bit mixed - there is no centralised transfusion service in the Czech Republic. Each hospital has its own centre that is responsible for taking care of the donors and getting blood donations, and these are independent, so there is no one entity connecting them, which is not always ideal.
"Then there is the Czech Red Cross, which is in charge of promotion and rewards, because donation is voluntary and non-remunerated, but still there is some prestige that we want to bring into it. So we are trying to collect the information, but we have to collect it from individual centres all around the country."
So if every hospital has its own blood transfusion department, and say you're somebody who's interested in giving blood for the first time, does that mean that you have to choose a hospital yourself?
"Yes, it's fully up to the donor's preferences, where he or she lives or works. You have to really think about the fact that it's not something that just takes five minutes - it takes quite a bit of time, so it's good to do it on a convenience basis rather than anything else. And it's up to you - you go where you want to go."
Let's say you're a very utilitarian person and you want to give your blood to the hospital that needs it most - is there a way to find out which hospitals are most in need of blood?
"In general, there is a huge demand for blood. There are always 60 - 80 000 new donors needed every year, because of the ageing of the old donor cohort and there is actually some growth in the demand. So basically, I would say that almost every hospital would probably have a need, but you can always go and check on their website or on the Czech Red Cross website. We can navigate you to the nearest hospital and then you see whether there is a demand for your particular blood type, if you know what it is."
Do the blood transfusion departments at different hospitals communicate with each other? Let's say, if one has more blood than they need and another hospital doesn't have enough, can blood be transported from one hospital to another?
"They are connected, so they can handle shortages. Of course, this is a state-run medical system, so blood is a very important commodity that can be transferred around, but it depends on the distance. So there is a lot of interaction going on, yes."
I know that in some countries, blood donors get an automatic text message when their blood is used. Is there anything like that here?
"No, there is not. The appreciation comes from the Red Cross giving you a medal that you receive after a certain number of donations - it starts at 10 and goes up to 250.
"There are several reasons why we don't have this system of sending a message when your blood has been used. One of them is that sometimes, the blood you donate in good faith cannot be used for whatever reason - something happens or it's not needed and it expires. How would you feel? Imagine you went to give blood and you expect to receive the message that day, but it doesn't arrive for months. It would demotivate you.
"So, these are two schools of thought. One says that it's promotion and that it's good because people will feel like they just did something good, then the other says would I not feel bad if my blood doesn't end up being used. So it's not like that here - it's more the medals that you receive from the Red Cross after a certain number of donations."
Moving on to foreigners living in Czechia - can foreigners living here donate their blood and are there any requirements? Do they need health insurance or to be able to speak Czech?
"Yes, they can, but there are a few conditions. Some of them are technical - you have to have some kind of residency in the Czech Republic of at least three months or longer, so you are not just a tourist just passing through Prague thinking, "I want to see the castle and I want to donate blood, sounds like a good plan for the weekend".
"But there is an additional requirement which is on the health side, and we can dig deeper into this a little bit later, but the important thing is that there has to be some ability to communicate with the staff, so you really have to have a good command of Czech or at least the ability to communicate in Czech.
"There are some exceptions, but very few. It's really because of safety, because it's a difficult process, something can go wrong and you don't want to end up in a miscommunication leading to some unfortunate outcome.
"But yes, having 3+ months residency in the Czech Republic, being healthy and being able to communicate with the staff."
So let's say I'm an expat from the US or another English-speaking country and I was used to donating blood at home. Now I have residency in the Czech Republic and I want to donate blood but my Czech isn't very good yet. Would it be enough if I brought a Czech partner or a Czech friend with me to translate?
"In some cases, yes. It's better to check with the transfusion centre of your choice whether they allow that. It can be really cumbersome in a way, so they may not be proactively encouraging it, but there are some that allow that. Some even have their own capacity to do it, so they have their own interpreters. These people are very eager to get donors so they are very open in communication.
"So just find the right blood donation or blood transfusion centre on our website and then just give them a call and you'll see whether they are open to it or not. It will be a little bit of hunting for the right spot for you."
So if a hospital has a blood donation questionnaire in English, which for example I found in one case, does that mean that that hospital likely allows it?
"Very likely - that's a very good sign. The questionnaire itself is quite a strong barrier to entry if you are a non-Czech speaker. So if you find this, it is very likely that they will be more open towards that."
Moving on - what are some reasons that people can't donate blood? I know this varies slightly from country to country...
"I would turn it the other way around. I always say that you should give the blood that you would like to receive. So it's very important that you are healthy and you feel healthy.
“That doesn't mean that if you have some limitations in your life you won't be allowed to donate blood. It's always up to a very detailed conversation that you will have with the doctor because there is always an examination. So they will take a sample of your blood and then you have to talk to a doctor and you discuss various things in your health profile.
"There are basic things - age, you should be 18+ and the cut-off age is 65. If you are donating for the first time, you have to do it before 60, so 61 is not a good time to start. Then you have to weigh more than 50 kilos (110 pounds). Weight is important because part of your body mass is being taken away and it has different implications.
"There are also some limitations related to recent surgeries and tattoos - you can't donate blood six months after getting a tattoo or piercing. And also travel, because if you travel to some areas that carry health risks, you have to have a cool-off period before you can donate."
I remember when I gave blood in the UK, one of the questions that was in the questionnaire - and I was surprised to see it there - was, 'Are you a man that's had sex with another man?' So I think it was the case, I don't know if this is still the policy in the UK, but it basically meant that gay people couldn't donate blood, because of the risk of AIDS. Is that also the case here?
"In the Czech Republic there is a question about your promiscuity, and it's one of the behaviours that should not be part of your lifestyle if you want to donate blood. There is a lot of discussion about whether there is a particular group that is more exposed to it or not, and this is an ongoing debate. But in general, the tendency is that there is still the perception or the evidence is that this is not an easy pass, so you should have a discussion.
"Whatever your sexual orientation is, if you are promiscuous, don't even try. It doesn't matter about your sexual orientation - it makes no difference for heterosexual people who are promiscuous. But if you have a stable and settled relationship or even abstain for a reasonable amount of time, then it's a question of discussing it with the doctor after the examination.
“Be very honest, be very open - there is a liability if you lie. And again, think about the fact that the blood you donate is going to somebody, so donate the blood that you would like to receive."
In this donor questionnaire that I mentioned before, I also noticed a question asking whether you'd spent more than six months in France or the UK between 1980 and 1996, which I assume was because of Mad Cows' Disease. And this reminded me that I used to have a Czech colleague who went to donate blood and came back three hours later and said, 'They didn't let me because I was born in the UK and I spent the first two years of my life there.' So my question is, is that a hard-and-fast rule?
"Absolutely. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, as you mentioned, you called it by the popular name Mad Cows' Disease, is a no-go."
OK, so having been born in the UK, I wouldn't be allowed to donate blood here?
"If you were born before 1996, then no."
I'm just curious though, because in the UK and France people also donate blood?
"Yes, but they probably have different methods of checking it. Honestly, all the questions and screening are about mitigating the risk - it's not really a hard no. It's a discussion. Imagine, you were there for six months but you lived in a hermit's environment and never met anybody - I don't know, I don't want to speculate on that. But it's more about how to narrow down and then discuss.
"For example, I have some conditions - I would not consider myself fully healthy as a human being - still, it doesn't prevent me from being a good blood donor, because of other things. And I like this - I was at a blood donor ceremony yesterday in Ostrava, and you see people from all walks of life - all ages, men, women - it doesn't matter, because blood is unique and if you have the right kind of blood then you can weigh 200kg and still you will be super welcome as a donor because you have something that is very useful and you are still saving lives.
"It is more about trying to live as responsibly as possible, you try to avoid certain things. Tattoos, you wait six months. But then it's ok, we have a lot of tattooed blood donors - they just have to manage their donations accordingly."
How soon can you donate blood after you've just donated it?
"It depends. If you go for full blood, it's three months for men and four months for women. If you donate just some elements of the blood, then it can be faster. If it's plasma, it can be after one month or four weeks - it depends from centre to centre.
"At the transfusion centre they will probably navigate you and tell you, 'OK, you can come again.' They often call - last time they called me two days before I was supposed to come, and said, 'OK, you'll manage now'."
I think blood types are really interesting - I remember when I found out I had this rare blood type, AB negative, so it's useless for most people, but then people who are AB negative need exactly that.
"It's super useful for them! That's the thing - you always hear about O being the cool one, but it doesn't work like that. Of course, if you have an ambulance, most likely O is on board because then they don't have to check your blood type and they are safe to give it to you, but you will find people who are in desperate need of AB negative and then you are the saviour, so there is not a single blood type that is not needed or necessary."
If you are interested in donating blood and you fulfil the conditions mentioned above, check out the interactive map of donation centres at https://www.cervenykriz.eu/darcovstvi-krve to find a suitable one for you.
