Plasma donations in Brampton lowest of all Canada Blood Services clinics
Published May 3, 2023 at 10:47 am
Canada Blood Services is calling for more donations in Brampton as the city’s plasma donation centre has the lowest count of all its clinics in the country.
Canada Blood Services just marked the one-year anniversary of the GTA’s first plasma donation clinic at 8255 Financial Dr. in Brampton, collecting plasma for the treatment of life-threatening, chronic and genetic conditions like cancer, severe burns, and auto-immune deficiencies.
Staff say the centre has seen some 4,000 donations since the doors first opened. But of Canada Blood Services’ (CBS) five plasma clinics across the country, Brampton has the number of donations.
“We’re approximately at about 20 donors, if we’re lucky, per day,” Michael Belviso of CBS told Brampton City Council on Wednesday (May 3). “We really truly do need to increase those donations.”
The Brampton clinic is only running at around 13 per cent of Canadian Blood Services asked council for help driving awareness and donations, and CBS says it wants to more than double the donations to the plasma center in its second year with a target of 10,000.
Council pledged to support the plasma clinic in Brampton and will look to organize a drive to raise awareness about the need for medical plasma and increase the number of donations.
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CBS says only 55 per cent of blood contains plasma, and there is a growing number of patients in Canada who rely on medical plasma for transfusions, and also is used for manufacturing specialized medicines for conditions such as bleeding disorders, burns and immunodeficiency.
And with a loss of 31,000 blood donors throughout the pandemic, CBS is recovering from its smallest donor base in a decade.
Donation eligibility for plasma isn’t as strict as for blood donations, CBS said.
Males can donate plasma every seven days while females can donate every 14 days, unlike whole blood where the wait time between donations is 56 days for males and 84 days for females.
Malaria risk is another difference in eligibility between plasma and blood donations. CBS says individuals recovering from Malaria or who have just landed from a Malaria-risk country can donate plasma 21 days after arriving in Canada.
For more information on how you can donate or help support the Brampton plasma donation clinic visit the CBS plasma donation information webpage.
Residents can help out by calling 1-888-2-DONATE or visit blood.ca for more information or to make an appointment.
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