The regulation prohibiting blood donations from individuals who have stayed in the United Kingdom and Europe for a long time will effectively disappear. This measure will allow about 16,000 people to donate blood.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare noted on 4th that it has revised the 'blood donation record card notice' to allow blood donations even for those who have stayed in the United Kingdom and other European countries for a certain period.
Korea has permanently banned blood donations from individuals who have resided in the United Kingdom for 3 months or in Europe for more than 5 years. These countries are where variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease occurred in the past. Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, also known as human mad cow disease, is transmitted through consuming products from cows infected with the disease or receiving blood transfusions from infected patients.
Since amending related regulations in 2011, Korea has banned blood donations from European residents for 13 years. The blood donation restriction period is defined as 'until now,' and it extends the restriction period annually.
However, recently, there has been a movement among major countries to eliminate or ease blood donation restrictions. The United States relaxed related regulations in 2020 and completely abolished them in 2022. Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Singapore have also removed or eased blood donation restrictions.
The Ministry of Welfare has also reviewed improvements to domestic blood donor selection criteria, determining that the risk of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease has decreased. Following discussions with expert committees and the Blood Management Committee, they deleted the related regulations.
However, residents of the United Kingdom, France, and Ireland can only donate blood if they have resided after the risk reduction measures for Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease were implemented. The United Kingdom implemented risk reduction measures in 1996, while France and Ireland did so in 2001. Additionally, there has been a ban on donating blood for those who have received transfusions from the United Kingdom and France, but with this revision, donations will also be restricted for those who have received transfusions from Ireland.
Public Health Policy Director Jeong Tong-ryeong stated, "It was excessive to prohibit blood donations just because a person visited the United Kingdom and Europe, and improvements were needed. We expect that this revision will lift the restrictions for 16,000 previous blood donors, increasing opportunities for blood donation."