CPPCC member suggests raising age cap for blood donors

Shen Jinjin, CPPCC member and director of the center for disease control and prevention in Yancheng

"I suggest raising the upper age limit of eligible blood donors from 55 to 60," Shen Jinjin, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Yancheng city, said at the ongoing 2015 "two sessions", annual legislative and political advisory sessions.

Under the Blood Donation Law in China, people aged 18 to 55 who are in good health are encouraged to donate blood. However, in the United States and Hong Kong, there is no upper limit, yet minimum age requirement, which is16. The maximum donor age is 65 in Britain, Germany and Canada.

"Compared with other countries, China’s regulations on the blood donorage seem a bit conservative, excluding people who are willing and able to donate blood,” Shen said. Shen also suggested that the 6-month-long interval between two donations can be reduced to three months. "The blood donated will recover in the metabolism within one or two months after donation. The second blood donation will do no harm to one’s health,” Shen added. Shen noted that most donors are currently students, soldiers and farmers. Civil servants, he pointed to, as a positive role in the society, only account for less than six percent of donors. Shen suggested that eligible civil servants donate blood at least once a year.