HC Deb 23 March 2004 vol 419 c719W
18. Nick Harvey

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans he has to extend the ban on blood donations from those who have received a blood transfusion since 1980 to organ recipients; and if he will make a statement. [162796]

Miss Melanie Johnson

Individuals who have had an organ transplant would be excluded from being blood donors because of their underlying condition, which led to that organ transplant.

Mr. Havard

To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Blood and Tissues for Transplantation has decided whether to ban recipients of blood from donating blood; and when the decision will be made public. [153864]

Miss Melanie Johnson

The Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Blood and Tissues for Transplantation met on 22 January to discuss further measures to safeguard the blood supply against the possible risk of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD). The Committee advised that the United Kingdom blood services should exclude those people who have previously received a blood transfusion since 1980 as a precautionary measure against the risk of vCJD being transmitted by blood and blood components. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Health made a statement to the House on this issue on 16 March.