Wait time for cancer survivors to donate blood reduced to 12 months

ABC NEWS (Australia)

People who've fully recovered from different cancers will be able to donate blood and plasma. The new rules mean people who finished cancer treatment at least 12 months ago will be able to roll up a sleeve.

Transcript

00:00Hayley Butler knows how important blood donations can be.

00:07Well for me it saved my life.

00:09She was diagnosed with stage 3 rectal cancer in 2020,

00:13underwent 25 rounds of radiation and then had to have major surgery.

00:18I now live with a permanent stoma and during that surgery,

00:21obviously 11 and a half hours, I relied on blood and plasma and platelets.

00:27Across her family blood donations have been integral.

00:31Hayley lost her mum, sister-in-law and father-in-law to cancers

00:35and recently her dad died from leukaemia.

00:38Particularly with my dad gave us more time to have some conversations,

00:42a bit of time to heal before we knew the inevitable unfortunately.

00:47Now people who've recovered from many cancers can donate 12 months

00:51after finishing treatment provided they have their doctor's approval.

00:55The community is really receiving this well

00:58and looking forward to the opportunity to be able to give back

01:00and help make a difference for something that they've gone through themselves.

01:04Cancer patients are Australia's largest recipients of blood products

01:08with a third of all donations used to treat cancers and blood diseases.

01:13Lifeblood says that's about 11,000 donations every week,

01:17with demand continuing to climb.

01:20It says international research has backed the move.

01:24Cancer is not transmissible through blood transfusion

01:27so we're safely able to reduce that wait time from 5 years down to 12 months.

01:32Hayley hopes she can help someone on their own cancer journey.

01:36It's a huge milestone.

01:38Giving back through healing.

01:39Giving back through healing.

01:43To be continued...

01:44...

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