Three blood collection stations in China have been punished for
illegal plasma collection practices, the Ministry of Health said on
Tuesday.
The blood collection station in Fangshan County, north China's
Shanxi Province, kept fake blood supply information and did not
manage its files properly, the ministry said.
"It collected blood from donors with fake identities and offered
no physical checkups for suppliers or lab testing of blood samples
before collecting plasma," said the ministry in a notice posted on
its website.
"The computer used to distinguish donors' identities did not
work properly, and its blood collection room and lab were shabby
and substandard," it said.
Local health authorities have revoked the station's licence and
officials responsible for its management and operation are being
investigated, it said.
Another two blood collection stations, one in Loudi City in
central China's Hunan Province and the other in Jieyang City in
south China's Guangdong Province, collected plasma from donors who
gave fake identities or sold blood more often than allowed,
according to the notice.
A law introduced in 1998 forbids donors from offering blood more
than once every six months.
Local health authorities have revoked the licence of the Hunan
station and fined it 100,000 yuan (US$13,160). Officials who
offered those with fake identities permits to sell blood will be
investigated and punished, the ministry said.
The head of the Guangdong blood collection station has been
sacked. A deputy head of the station and an official in the city's
health department also received administrative punishments, it
said.
Another six people in Guangdong have been jailed for operating
an illegal blood donation ring. Earlier reports said they forced
migrant workers desperate for cash to sell blood up to 10 times a
month by issuing them with fake identity cards.
The ministry on Tuesday required all blood collection stations
to install video cameras in key places, such as the permit issuing
office and the blood collection room.
"They will help us monitor the entire blood collection process,"
said Mao Qun'an, the ministry spokesman, at a press conference here
on Tuesday.
(Xinhua News Agency July 11, 2007)
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