Blood donations decline; supply shortfall looms

Experts say drop is more than seasonal flux.

The Washington Post

With blood donations steadily falling and demand for transfusions rising, the United States is headed for a blood supply shortfall next year, according to blood researchers. Unless those trends suddenly are reversed, the usable blood supply in 2000 will drop by 600,000 pints to 11.69 million units -- 249,000 units fewer than blood banks and hospitals expect to need, according to the National Blood Data Resource Center in Bethesda, Md. "Blood banks are notorious for crying wolf again and again, and sometimes it's hard to take them seriously," said Arthur Caplan, a University of Pennsylvania bioethicist who chairs a federal advisory committee on blood safety and supply. "But if you look at the numbers, this is serious." In 1992, the available supply of donated blood was 13.2 million pints, but surveys showed it fell to 12.9 million in 1994 and 12.3 million in 1997. In 1992, there were 11.3 million transfusions. That fell slightly before increasing to 11.5 million in 1997. The possible shortage comes as physicians are becoming more reliant on blood transfusions as they attempt an increasing number of organ transplants, complex surgical procedures and aggressive new cancer therapies. "Blood truly is to the health care system as oil is to transportation, and you're looking at declines that aren't just seasonal," Caplan said. "That spells real trouble for every American. That means delays in elective surgery, problems in treatment of cancer and problems in the supply of blood products for people with very serious diseases." Experts say the supply projections raise questions about whether Americans are less generous and community oriented than their parents were and whether long-held fears of contracting blood-borne illnesses continue to make people fear rolling up their sleeves. It is clear it has become increasingly difficult to persuade companies to encourage their workers to give blood, according to Harvey G. Klein, the chief of transfusion medicine at the National Institutes of Health clinical center in Bethesda. "Now we have many more small businesses and some reluctance on the part of many employers to allow space and time for blood drives," Klein said. "The opportunity to collect is not what it was 15 years ago. "What has alarmed me and should alarm everyone is that over the past several years there have been times when there simply wasn't enough blood of the right blood group to perform surgery that should be done but can be postponed," he said.

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