Long-term visitors from Europe, including the UK and France, can also donate blood domestically

Blood Donation Ban for Extended Stays in Europe Now Eased
UK, France, and Ireland Remain Restricted for Certain Periods

From now on, even if you have stayed in the UK or other parts of Europe for an extended period, you can donate blood as long as there are no other restrictions.

Yonhap News

The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 4th that it has revised the 'Blood Donation Record Card' notice to improve the criteria that had permanently banned blood donations from individuals who stayed in Europe for a certain period.

Europe was previously a region where variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) cases occurred, and domestic regulations had prevented blood donations from those who stayed in Europe for a certain period due to concerns about the risk of vCJD transmission. vCJD is presumed to occur by consuming bones or brains of cows infected with mad cow disease through contaminated feed, and so far, 233 cases have been reported worldwide.

The domestic criteria for banning blood donations have remained unchanged for 13 years since the revision in 2011. In the case of the UK, blood donation was prohibited if a person stayed for 'more than one month between 1980 and 1996' or 'more than three months from 1997 to the present,' and for the entire Europe, if a person stayed for 'more than five years from 1980 to the present.' Because the end point of the restricted stay period was defined as 'to the present,' the restriction period was extended year by year. This effectively blocked blood donations from residents of these countries permanently.

Jeong Tongryeong, Director of Public Health Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, explained, "The current criteria that banned blood donations simply because of travel to the UK or Europe were excessive and needed improvement."

In other major countries, similar blood donation restrictions were in place in the past, but recently, based on research results, related regulations have been removed or relaxed. The United States completely abolished vCJD-related blood donation restrictions in 2022, and Australia (2022), Canada (2023), New Zealand, Hong Kong, and Singapore (2024) have also successively removed related regulations, easing restrictions.

Accordingly, our government also prepared an improvement plan for blood donation restrictions based on domestic research showing that the risk of vCJD occurrence has significantly decreased. In the revised notice, the scope of high-risk countries restricting blood donations has been narrowed from 'all of Europe' to the UK, France, and Ireland, and blood donation restrictions will apply only to those who stayed before each country implemented measures to reduce the risk of vCJD occurrence.

However, those who stayed in the UK for more than three months between 1980 and 1996, or in France and Ireland for more than five years between 1980 and 2001, still cannot donate blood. Those who have received blood transfusions in the UK, France, or Ireland since 1980 are also prohibited from donating blood.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare expects that about 16,000 people registered as banned from donating blood will gain the opportunity to donate due to this revision.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.