Brno - The Czech Red Cross health organization warns against practices of the Swiss pharmaceutical company Sanaplasma, which buys blood plasma from people. 

Sanaplasma already has blood collection centres in all bigger cities of Moravia and has just opened a new one in Pardubice. They pay from four to five hundred Czech Crowns for one collection.

"Under any circumstances we do not recommend to possible donors to become paid clients of Sanaplasma and to provide the company with their blood plasma," says the Red Cross in its statement.

The Swiss firm has been operating in the Czech Republic since the middle of last year and its blood collection centres in Brno, Zlín, Ostrava and Olomouc are visited by hundreds of people every day. These clients receive the money for their plasma immediately after its collection. 

The Swiss have all the necessary authorizations for the Czech Republic and they clearly declare their rules, however, the Red Cross appeals to people to ignore such business.

"The commercial collection of plasma poses a risk mainly to patients, who will receive it," stated for Aktuálně.cz the president of the Czech Red Cross Marek Jukl.

"Collected blood is tested. However, it is not and it cannot be tested for all blood transmitted infections or other substances threatening the receiver," warns Marek Jukl.

The Red Cross argues, that the quick cash lures also the high-risk persons, who might conceal some information about themselves and their health condition because of the easy money.

"For some seven visits, I have earned nearly 4 thousand. And what´s more, my plasma is saving people´s lives," believes 24-year-old student of the Brno University of Technology, who didn´t wish to say his name, cause he plans another visit to the blood collection centre.

It is safe, claims the firm

Sanaplasma itself points out, that they use the most up-to-date methods. In their information brochures, it is stated that all the Moravian centres employ roughly eighty qualified people and that the company has invested 20 million Crowns to equip each of the centres.

"The donors go through preliminary health check-ups and their blood is tested during each collection," stated the company´s general manager, Martin Lukas. "We want these collections to be safe for clients, but also as comfortable as possible."

The firm communicates with Aktuálně.cz editors only through emails and Martin Lukas refuses a face-to-face interview. He still hasn´t answered the question, how much blood plasma Sanaplasma has already collected in the Czech Republic and how much has paid for it.

He only stated that each of the Moravian centres is visited by roughly one hundred clients every day. 

Hectolitres of plasma for tens of millions

That would mean, that each day, the firm buys some 300 litres of blood plasma and pays approximately 160 thousand Crowns for it. So gradually, Sanaplasma has already spent tens of millions Crowns in the Czech Republic.

All around the world, there is a shortage of plasma, which is used for production of pharmaceuticals and cannot be replaced by any other substance nowadays. Plasma products are used for treatment of serious injuries, large burn injuries, during major blood loss and also after chemotherapy for cancer-diagnosed patients. 

Although the business activities of the Swiss are legal in Czechia, they contradict the rules, recommended also by the European Union. The directive of the European Parliament imposes the member countries to accept provisions to support free-of-charge donating of blood as well as plasma and to ensure that the needed blood is received for free.

The reason is, doctors mostly agree that safe donating is mainly based on the information, which is voluntarily revealed by donors themselves.

"The information provided by the donor eliminates the infection more than any other test. If the donors are willing to give their blood for free, they will fill in the questionnaire without concealing any information. And if they do not wish to answer certain questions, they can leave," stated the president of the Czech Red Cross, Marek Jukl.