Advocates & health care workers call for legislation to ban for-profit blood brokers in NS
HALIFAX NS - Representatives from Bloodwatch.org, the Nova Scotia Health Coalition, the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU) and the Nova Scotia Nurses Union held a press conference today in Dartmouth calling on the provincial government to pass legislation banning for-profit plasma and blood brokers in Nova Scotia.
“Time is running out and we are urging Minister Delorey to protect the blood supply in Nova Scotia. The only way to circumvent the private brokers from collecting blood-plasma and exporting it out of the province is to implement a ban as Ontario and Alberta have done,” said Kat Lanteigne, co-founder and executive director of Bloodwatch.org.
Bloodwatch.org, the national safe blood advocacy group, obtained a copy of the business plan of Canadian Plasma Resources, a for-profit blood broker operating in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick. The business plan, obtained through a freedom of information request in Prince Edward Island, shows that the company has targeted Nova Scotia for expansion.
For-profit, paid plasma collection was banned in Ontario in 2014 and Alberta in 2017. With Nova Scotia firmly in the sights of for-profit plasma brokers, the province must follow suite as soon as possible.
“Legislation that protects Nova Scotians and Nova Scotia’s blood supply needs to be introduced and passed immediately. Delaying this legislation is simply too risky,” said Chris Parsons of the Nova Scotia Health Coalition, which first called for a ban on the practice two years ago.
Bloodwatch.org and the Nova Scotia Health Coalition will be holding a public meeting on pay-for-plasma brokers on Tuesday night in Halifax.
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Media Contact:
Kat Lanteigne, Executive Director, Bloodwatch.org
647.272.7381 / info@bloodwatch.org
Chris Parsons, Provincial Coordinator, Nova Scotia Health Coalition
902.880-8628 / coordinator@nshealthcoalition.ca
Event Details:
Public Meeting: “Ban Blood Money - Why we need to stop for-profit blood brokers in NS”
Co-hosted by the Nova Scotia Health Coalition and Bloodwatch.org
6:30pm to 8:30pm - Art Bar +Project (1873 Granville Street, Halifax)
Opportunities for interviews and video footage