In Irkutsk Region, donors still give blood on general terms and receive regular meals, while regular donors get 290 rubles for each donation. Russia now favors unpaid donation, though payment tied to the subsistence minimum will remain for some donor categories and types of donation. The region says there is no blood shortage, most donors give it free, and annual supplies are enough for medical needs.
Currently, according to the chief physician of the Regional Blood Transfusion Station, Maxim Zarubin, blood donation by donors is carried out on a general basis. Each donor, as before, receives food — two bars of chocolate, tea, and cookies. Support measures for regular donors who donate blood on a regular basis have been preserved. These donors receive 290 rubles for each donation.As Maxim Zarubin noted, priority will now be given in Russia to unpaid donation. At the same time, cases have been established in which blood donation will be possible for payment. Work is currently underway in the Angara region on the relevant regulatory legal act. According to the document, payments to donors will be set at a uniform amount throughout the country, and they will be tied to the subsistence minimum in the territory of the constituent entity of the Russian Federation.
Donors with rare Rh phenotypes, donors who do not have certain antigens, as well as donors who donate blood using hardware technologies will be able to donate blood for payment. A plasma donor will receive payment in the amount of 8% of the subsistence minimum, a plasmapheresis donor — 15%, a plateletpheresis donor — 34%, and an erythrocytapheresis donor — 25%.
According to Olga Lebed, the federal law on blood donation and its components that has come into force has not affected the number of donors. There is no acute shortage of donor blood in the Irkutsk Region. Most donors in the region donate blood free of charge. More than 40,000 liters of blood are collected annually in the Angara region. This amount meets the needs of medical institutions in the region.