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The Australian Red Cross offers free tattoos to encourage donors of plasma as the need is high.
To meet the patient demand for life-saving plasma, 1600 individuals are being asked to donate plasma each day.
Red Cross Lifeblood launched yesterday the Tattoo Initiative as part of International Plasma Awareness Week, which continues until Friday.
To correct the misperception that tattoos can be a barrier to blood donation, donors will receive a temporary tattoo of their choice with each donation.
Mr Chesneau stated that a Lifeblood survey revealed more than 15% Australians believed you couldn’t give blood if you had a tattoo.
One in four Australians is inked with a tattoo. We want them to know that they can still donate blood or plasma. Plasma can be donated right away.
Australia has a large population of plasma medicine users, and thousands of Australians rely on it to manage life-threatening illnesses every day.
The Red Cross stated that despite Australia donating plasma more than any other time during the COVID pandemics, there is still a need to find new donors.
Stuart Chesneau oversees Lifeblood’s plasma program and said that more than 810,000 plasma donations were made over the last year. However, thousands more needed to be done.
Chesneau stated that donors may be asked to change their donations to plasma or blood depending on how they are needed the most.
Many plasma donors were requested to give whole blood in response to the outbreak of pandemic. This was to ensure that red cell supply could be met.
“Aside from the requirement for whole blood, it is important to maintain adequate plasma levels to support the health of Australian patients.”
Plasma is considered to be a medical marvel because it often acts as the last defense against many diseases.
He stated that more than 50 medical conditions can be treated with plasma-derived medications.
For ongoing and acute conditions, more than 13.300 Australians require immunoglobulin each month. This is to preserve their quality life.
To make one dose of certain plasma medicines, it can require up to 15 plasma donations.
There are many medical conditions that plasma may be used for, and every Australian woman who has received a chicken pox or post-exposure injection of tetanus, as well as every pregnant woman who has received Anti-D injections, might not realize they are plasma recipients.”
Carolyn Dews, chief executive officer at Immune Deficiencies Foundation Australia said that many of the members rely on plasma donors for their health.
She said that Plasma offers protection because it has disease-fighting antibodies which help protect against many infections.
On average, 130 plasma donors are required to treat someone with a primary immune deficiency. Approximately one-in-1000 people will be affected by primary immunodeficiencies.
The demand for plasma-derived products is on the rise. We’ve witnessed numbers increase by 13% in the last year, which indicates that more Australians are being diagnosed with immunodeficiency.
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