European Tribune - Comments - Monday Open Thread

Monday Open Thread | 97 comments (97 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)

They won't accept blood ... from a woman who has slept with a man who has had sex with another man

Do they presume a blood donor would know about the sexual history of their partners?

They could just test all samples instead of instututing blanket bans like this.

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Mon May 19th, 2008 at 02:01:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: this one's empty (4.00 / 3)

Yes, but the ban was instituted on a false and prejudiced premise. To remove the ban would be to admit that fact.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Mon May 19th, 2008 at 02:05:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: this one's empty (4.00 / 4)

What Helen said.
Obviously no, not all women will know or for that matter not everyone will be honest. They have to check all blood anyway I think, at the very least for first time donors. Even if a gay man has had an HIV test and is clear, he still will not be allowed to give blood. It's incredibly unfair. I diaried it 6 months ago when I last went.

Ad astra per aspera

by In Wales (inwales aaat eurotrib.com) on Mon May 19th, 2008 at 02:10:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: this one's empty (4.00 / 3)

Actually, testing all samples is quite inefficient : blood tests are quite expensive. They simply mix a large quantity of samples together, and test the result. The downside is having to trash the large amount of blood if the test is positive. That's why they use statistically relevant information in deciding who donates blood. Of course, quite often the prejudices of the doctor or of the agency get in the way.

Auferre, trucidare, rapere, falsis nominibus imperium; atque, ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Tue May 20th, 2008 at 03:43:07 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: this one's empty (none / 0)

You know as well as I do that to find a tainted sample among n takes only O(log(n)) tests...

When the capital development of a country becomes a by-product of the activities of a casino, the job is likely to be ill-done. — John M. Keynes

by Migeru (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Tue May 20th, 2008 at 02:56:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: this one's empty (none / 1)

I'm not an industry specialist, but I had understood that the samples were already actually mixed...

Auferre, trucidare, rapere, falsis nominibus imperium; atque, ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.

by linca (antonin POINT lucas AROBASE gmail.com) on Wed May 21st, 2008 at 05:06:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Monday Open Thread | 97 comments (97 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)

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