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“Banning paid blood donations across the country is the right thing to do. We are calling on the federal health minister to take action. We support provincial campaigns for legislation but recognize they are needed only because of continuing federal inaction” – Larry Brown, President of NUPGE
Ottawa (11 April 2018) — The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) stands in solidarity with the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU/NUPGE) and Nova Scotia advocates and health care workers who have called for provincial legislation to ban for-profit blood brokers in Nova Scotia.
The National Union believes that campaigns like the one in Nova Scotia are the frontlines of the fight against paid plasma. The past successful campaigns in Alberta, Quebec and Ontario show that victories are possible. NUPGE stands in solidarity with Blood Watch and all Nova Scotia organizations that are part of this coalition, but also believes the federal government is at fault for allowing the spread of these for-profit clinics because it refuses to take action at the national level.
Federal legislation needed now
“Paid plasma, supplied by private, for-profit companies was the key reason for the tainted-blood scandal, infecting 2,000 Canadians with HIV and another 30,000 with hepatitis C,” said Larry Brown, President of NUPGE. “It is an affront to those who were infected and to their families that the federal government is again allowing paid blood donations.”
Canadians have lived the consequences of allowing our system to be seized by those who would profit from blood. Every credible source from the World Health Organization down has clearly stated that paid plasma puts our system at risk. We must not repeat the mistakes of the last generation by allowing paid plasma and profit to infect our health care system.
Expand voluntary blood collection; respect the Krever Commission recommendations
NUPGE has consistenly called for a ban on paid plasma and has supported an expansion of Canadian Blood Services voluntary blood collection. NUPGE has also called for all governments to heed the Krever Commission's recommendations against paid plasma. The recommendations came from the inquiry headed by Justice Horace Krever, who was commissioned to investigate the tainted-blood scandal in Canada.