State lowers donor age

Though the American Red Cross estimates that someone in the United States needs blood every two seconds, only 5 percent of the eligible population donates the life-giving substance. The severe need for blood has recently spurred Massachusetts’ lawmakers to reevaluate age restrictions for donating blood.
The new laws, which will take effect as of early January, will allow individuals younger than 18 to donate blood with parental consent. The laws, which were signed by Gov. Deval Patrick on Sept. 24, became a state government issue after a 16-year-old student from Lexington filed a petition with Massachusetts State Rep. Jay Kaufman.
Kaufman said he hopes the bill will increase blood supply and help alleviate blood shortages at area hospitals, and will also encourage adolescents to become community volunteers through civic engagement.
“The day the law takes effect, they’re doing a blood drive at Lexington High School,” he said. “That should prove that it will actually increase the supply.”
New England American Red Cross Blood Services spokeswoman Donna Morrissey said the new age provision will create new possibilities for awareness and education in high schools.
“This gives us an important opportunity to educate students about becoming donors and dedicating themselves to a lifetime of donation,” she said. “We are thrilled to be able to work with 16-year-olds to instill the importance of giving back to the community.”
Only 37 percent of the U.S. population is currently qualified to donate blood, according to a July 2007 study in Transfusion, the journal of the American Association of Blood Banks. Massachusetts must import about 36 percent of the blood the state needs from other parts of the country, Morrissey said.
“The hope is that with 16-year-olds being able to donate we’ll be able to close that gap and increase our ability to supply blood,” Morrissey said.
Other states, like Missouri, have passed similar legislation allowing 16 year olds to donate blood. Missouri Red Cross noticed an increase in blood supply since its law became enacted in 2006.
“It has definitely been a positive impact for us,” Missouri-Illinois Red Cross Blood Services spokeswoman Steffi Tatum-Dite said. “At most of our high school blood drives, we’re seeing about a 20 percent increase in the blood we collect.”
Tatum-Dite said that during the summer and school holidays, gains from the high school blood drives are nearly irrelevant because the need for blood remains the same, but the new donors are harder to come by.
“The blood we get from high schools in this region is 30 percent of our supply, so we feel the impact,” she said. “The new law helps the supply, but the reality is that we could always use more blood.”