Close X
Monday, November 11, 2024
ADVT 
National

Health Canada approves nationwide removal of blood donor ban sparked by mad cow fears

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 22 Nov, 2023 02:57 PM
  • Health Canada approves nationwide removal of blood donor ban sparked by mad cow fears

Health Canada is lifting a ban on blood donations from people who lived or travelled in the United Kingdom, Ireland or France for long periods of time in the 1980s and 1990s. 

The decades-long rule was a precaution to prevent the transmission of mad cow disease through blood transfusions from people who had a higher likelihood of being exposed.

Canadian Blood Services says almost 30 years of research and surveillance has made it clear that people who weren't eligible to donate under the travel criteria can do so safely. 

The agency's medical officer, Dr. Aditi Khandelwal, says lifting the ban will not impact the safety of the blood supply and will allow thousands more people to donate much-needed blood.   

The news comes hours after Health Canada authorized Héma-Québec — which manages the blood supply in Quebec — to remove the same ban. 

The change takes effect across Canada on Dec. 4.

The United States and Australia each lifted similar bans in 2022.

Both Canadian Blood Services and Héma-Québec said they have turned away thousands of potential blood donors whose travel in the United Kingdom and Europe decades ago disqualified them.

 

MORE National ARTICLES

More evacuation orders coming down around West Kelowna, B.C., wildfire

More evacuation orders coming down around West Kelowna, B.C., wildfire
The area under evacuation order around a wildfire in West Kelowna, B.C., is gradually shrinking. The Central Okanagan emergency operations centre says residents of 16 properties along Bear Creek Road are allowed to go home, although they remain on evacuation alert and must be ready to leave again if the McDougall Creek wildfire flares.   

More evacuation orders coming down around West Kelowna, B.C., wildfire

Double homicide in Chilliwack

Double homicide in Chilliwack
A statement from the Upper Fraser Valley Regional Detachment says officers were called to reports of shots fired in a rural area south of the city on Wednesday night. It says two people were found dead in a nearby home in the 46000 block of Chilliwack Lake Road.

Double homicide in Chilliwack

Youth arrested for bear-spray attack on Sikh teen in Kelowna, B.C.: RCMP

Youth arrested for bear-spray attack on Sikh teen in Kelowna, B.C.: RCMP
RCMP say they've arrested a youth after a bear-spray attack on a Sikh teenager who was riding a bus in Kelowna, B.C. Corp. Michael Gauthier with Kelowna RCMP says in a statement that video shows the suspect assaulting and spraying the victim during an attack that took place both on and off a B.C. Transit bus on Monday.

Youth arrested for bear-spray attack on Sikh teen in Kelowna, B.C.: RCMP

Trudeau in New York next week to talk climate, development at UN General Assembly

Trudeau in New York next week to talk climate, development at UN General Assembly
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will travel to New York next week to take part in the 78th meeting of the United Nations General Assembly.  The Prime Minister's Office confirmed today that Trudeau will be at the UN Sept. 19-21, with the climate crisis and sustainable development at the top of his agenda. 

Trudeau in New York next week to talk climate, development at UN General Assembly

BC crime data can be accessed online

BC crime data can be accessed online
Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam residents can now access police data about crime in their cities online. The Coquitlam R-C-M-P says it has launched its new property crime dashboard, allowing members of the public to explore crimes reported in the cities on an interactive map tool. 

BC crime data can be accessed online

Ibrahim Ali trial

Ibrahim Ali trial
An RCMP expert testifying at Ibrahim Ali's murder trial said the first DNA evidence linking the accused to the killing of a 13-year-old girl in Burnaby, B.C., came from a discarded cigarette butt. Christine Crossman says Ali's DNA from the cigarette was then matched to the DNA recovered from the body of the girl who was found dead in Burnaby's Central Park six years ago.

Ibrahim Ali trial