Code of the donor

The subject of the Code of the donor is the definition of ethical principles and rules covering the activities of Transfusion Medicine. This Code was developed with technical support and adopted by WHO and adopted by the General Assembly of the International Blood Transfusion Society (ISBT) on July 12, 2000.

Blood donation, including the donation of hematopoietic tissue * for transplantation, should be voluntary and free of charge in all circumstances; there should not be any coercion with respect to the donor. The donor must give informed consent to the donation of blood or blood components and their subsequent legitimate use by the blood service.

Patients should be notified of the known risks and benefits of blood transfusion and / or alternative therapies and have the right to accept or refuse the procedure. Any normative document adopted in the future should be taken into account.

In the case where the patient is unable to give prior informed consent, the basis for transfusion therapy should be the maximum consideration of the patient's interests.

Hematopoietic tissue is a tissue that participates in the formation of blood cells.

the health of the donor and his safety must be protected.

Making a profit should not serve as a basis for the establishment and operation of a blood service.

The donor should be notified of the risk associated with the procedure of the blood donation. Any procedures associated with the introduction of a donor to substances that increase the concentration of any blood components should be carried out in accordance with internationally accepted standards.

Anonymity between the donor and the recipient should be provided except for special situations, and the confidentiality of information about the donor should be guaranteed.

The donor should be aware of the risk of donating infected blood to others and of his moral responsibility to the recipient.

Blood donation should be based on regularly reviewed criteria for medical selection without any discrimination based on sex, race, nationality or religion. Neither the donor nor the potential recipient has the right to demand that any such discrimination be practiced.

The taking of blood is carried out under the full responsibility of the registered medical worker of proper qualifications.

All issues related to whole blood donation and hemapheresis * should comply with standards that are duly determined and accepted by the international community.

The donor and the recipient should be informed if they were harmed.

Hemapheresis is a process in which, with the help of a special apparatus, certain components are removed from donor blood, and all the others are returned to the donor, to his bloodstream.

Transfusion therapy is a method of treatment consisting in the intravenous injection of various solutions into the human body (transfusion of blood, its components, drugs and blood substitutes for therapeutic purposes)

Transfusion therapy * should be carried out under the overall responsibility of the registered medical worker.

The only reason for transfusion therapy should be a clear clinical need.

Financial considerations should not be the cause of the appointment of blood transfusion*.

Blood is a public resource that should be publicly available.

The patient, as far as possible, should receive those individual components (cells, plasma, plasma derivatives) that are clinically indicated and safest.

In order to safeguard the interests of potential recipients and the donor, it should avoid writing off blood products due to the expiration of the shelf life.

The blood service established by national or international health authorities and others is vested with competence and rights to operate in accordance with this code of ethics.

Transfusion of blood (Latin transfusio - transfusion) is the same as transfusion of blood