§ Lord Clement-Jonesasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why, when there is transfusion plasma currently available in the United Kingdom to the National Health Service which is licensed in the United Kingdom and sourced in the United States, the National Blood Service continues to provide patients with United Kingdom-sourced fresh frozen plasma which has not been virally inactivated; and [HL2132]
In the light of the move announced on 12 February towards providing haemophiliacs with safer clotting factors, why they intend to continue to supply United Kindom-sourced plasma, which carries the risk of vCJD, to transfusion patients born before 1996; and [HL2133]
Why, when there is transfusion plasma currently available in the United Kingdom which is licensed in the United Kingdom and sourced in the United States, the National Blood Service is still unable to implement its recommendation to provide the majority of patients born after 1 January 1996 with United States-sourced, virally inactivated fresh frozen plasma. [HL2134]
§ Baroness AndrewsTo date, there is no evidence worldwide that variant Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (vCJD) has ever been transmitted through blood. As a precautionary measure, all fresh frozen plasma (FFP) produced by the United Kingdom blood service uses single unit plasma from UK blood donors which has been leucodepleted to remove the white cells which124WA evidence suggests may carry the greatest risk of transmitting vCJD. Although most UK FFP is not virally inactivated, high levels of safety are achieved by using single unit, as opposed to pooled plasma, by screening out potential high risk donors and by testing every unit of donated blood for the presence of infections such as HIV, Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C before it is released to hospitals.
The decision taken to import FFP from the United States for young babies and children born after I January 1996 will provide additional protection to the most vulnerable group who will not have been exposed to Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy through the food chain. The National Blood Service is currently involved in negotiating for supplies of FFP for this group of patients and plans to have it available later this year. A commercially produced FFP product, sourced from the United States, is also available for the National Health Service to purchase.