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Have you ever thought about giving blood?

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Original post by iEthan
Ohhhhhhh! My aunt lives on the island in question I think :yep: — I hope you can donate blood when you go off to uni, especially considering you want to! :yep:


Ah, the island famous for its cows, potatoes, and having no career opportunities other than finance?

Hopefully I will. It just seems like a very satisfying thing to do. :smile:
Original post by JustJusty
Ah, the island famous for its cows, potatoes, and having no career opportunities other than finance?

Hopefully I will. It just seems like a very satisfying thing to do. :smile:


That very island, yes!! This is understandable :frown: — it truly is!
Since people always talk about false negatives in screening for high risk populations, here are some ballpark figures for what that risk actually is:
Roughly (very roughly) 30000 MSM men have HIV in the UK. About a quarter don't know their status. False negative is one in 10,000. Transmission by infusion is 90%. Let's say you required MSM donors to have already had an HIV test more than three months after having last had unprotected sex. If every single unknowingly positive MSM in the UK donated blood every year, that means you could expect one extra infection per 150 years. Given that only about 5% of people eligible actually donate regularly, the risk is actually insignificant.
See also this paper on precisely this change in policy in Italy, showing no change in rates of HIV among donors.

Fundamentally, there's no need for the NHS to change the rules since MSM are a relatively small population and the need for blood isn't that great. As pointed out, there's no 'right' to donate blood. That doesn't make the rules good or logical.

The NHS is happy to send me away from a clinic telling me I am HIV negative. So apparently it's fine for me to e.g. have unprotected sex with a monogamous parter. But all of a sudden they're not really that certain - it's not fine for me to donate blood. Mixed messages, no? Is the health of me or my (hypothetical) partner less important than the health of a recipient? Is it worse to get HIV from a blood transfusion than from sex between men? Not everyone might understand this, but personally I find it more upsetting than experiences of homophobia from individuals douchebags.

So I hope someone out there will read this and donate a pint on my behalf!
Original post by iEthan
…or have you ever given blood before? Donating blood is an amazing thing to do and you can do it in the knowledge that you're definitely going to be helping someone who desperately needs it. According to the NHS, less than 3% of us give blood but approximately 1 in 5 of us will need a blood transfusion at some point in our lives. They usually rely on the same people repetitively donating. I think if more people knew about the process, it might get more people donating!

I understand that some people mightn't be sure of the whole process so I'll give you a bit of background information in spoilers :wink:

What're your thoughts on blood donation? I'd love to know your thoughts on this issue!

Ethan :h:

Q&A's:

Spoiler



I havent done yet due to different reasons but I determined to give something back. What's people's experiences? What can I expect?
(edited 8 years ago)
Not really. I would love to get paid doing for doin it though, and i don't even know my blood type.
Yup, I do it as often as I can, and have already booked my 3rd appointment! It's defiantly something that gives you that "feel-good" knowing you've done some type of good deed for the day, and knowing that it could potentially save someone's life too!
I think it's an amazing thing to do! As soon as my blood is more healthy I plan to give blood. Everything's tip top it's just the iron that's lacking but as soon as that's at a good level I'm going to do it!
I've donated blood once before but I can't donate anymore for now as I'm anaemic ~
My blood is probably somewhere around 70% energy drink, donating would kill the person.
Original post by iEthan
That's really unfortunate! But it's the thought that counts :yep: have you ever thought about signing up to the organ donor register? It's a great compromise! :excited:


I have, but considering the fact I'm planning on moving abroad, I don't see there being any point in doing it, as the government won't be able to take my organs from me if I'm in East Asia
Original post by super_kawaii
I have, but considering the fact I'm planning on moving abroad, I don't see there being any point in doing it, as the government won't be able to take my organs from me if I'm in East Asia


Ahhhh! Well that's a different story entirely :yep: understood! That's exciting though, when're you moving?! :h:
Original post by iEthan
Ahhhh! Well that's a different story entirely :yep: understood! That's exciting though, when're you moving?! :h:


I don't know yet, was planning on going to Japan within the next academic year, but my parents are pressuring me to move to the shithole called London this September :hmpf::unimpressed:
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z33
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Original post by super_kawaii
I don't know yet, was planning on going to Japan within the next academic year, but my parents are pressuring me to move to the shithole called London this September :hmpf::unimpressed:


:eek: london is great! :cry2:
Original post by z33
:eek: london is great! :cry2:


Rude people, expensive housing, overpriced food and transport. It's the last place I'd ever want to be
Original post by super_kawaii
I have, but considering the fact I'm planning on moving abroad, I don't see there being any point in doing it, as the government won't be able to take my organs from me if I'm in East Asia


Well you never know when some drunk **** is going to mow you down in his car! And young organs are the most useful. You should definitely get registered. It takes less then two minutes.
Original post by nexttime
Well you never know when some drunk **** is going to mow you down in his car! And young organs are the most useful. You should definitely get registered. It takes less then two minutes.


I might be young, but my organs aren't the best-I suffer from asthma so my lungs don't work at full capacity and I suffer from eczema so noone would ever want my skin
Reply 276
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z33
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Original post by super_kawaii
Rude people, expensive housing, overpriced food and transport. It's the last place I'd ever want to be


The whole 'people of London are rude' thing is a stereotype lol there's plenty of nice people and a lot of mean people too just like there is anywhere
That's if you live in central
You can get decently priced stuff if you know your shops, like if you get groceries from Lidl's it's much cheaper than Tesco's etc.
There's certain oyster cards that'll make travelling cheaper if you qualify for them.

Shops are open til like 11 pm everyday, if you want something, you can find it in London. Nice attractions, everything's near you, many job opportunities. There's loads of pros :biggrin:

But Japan seems cool *__*
Reply 277
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z33
21
Original post by super_kawaii
I might be young, but my organs aren't the best-I suffer from asthma so my lungs don't work at full capacity and I suffer from eczema so noone would ever want my skin


what about your heart, liver, kidneys? you can donate specific organs me thinks
Haven't donated blood, nor considered it.
I'm Hemophobic, so it's not such a good idea to willingly put myself in that position.
Original post by z33
The whole 'people of London are rude' thing is a stereotype lol there's plenty of nice people and a lot of mean people too just like there is anywhere
That's if you live in central
You can get decently priced stuff if you know your shops, like if you get groceries from Lidl's it's much cheaper than Tesco's etc.
There's certain oyster cards that'll make travelling cheaper if you qualify for them.

Shops are open til like 11 pm everyday, if you want something, you can find it in London. Nice attractions, everything's near you, many job opportunities. There's loads of pros :biggrin:

But Japan seems cool *__*


I grew up down south and everyone was nasty, never experienced such nastiness during my time at uni in Sheffield.

It's exactly the same up north, except the only difference is it's actually affordable.

Japan is much more affordable and I'd be able to raise any children I have at least bilingual, which you can't even do in London due to how segregated ethnicities are there and the poor quality of education in the UK

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