§ Mr. HavardTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of blood donors who will be removed from the blood donor base if recipients of blood are banned from donating blood. [73931]
§ Ms BlearsThe National Blood Service estimates that approximately 135,000, or 7.7 per cent., to 255,000, or 14.5 per cent. of blood donors would be removed from the donor base if it was decided to exclude donors who had previously received a blood transfusion, as a precautionary measure to minimise the theoretical risk of transmitting vCJD through blood. The Government's expert advisory committee on the microbiological safety of blood and tissues for transplantation is currently considering this along with other possible vCJD risk reduction measures.