Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / Australian Red Cross Lifeblood’s Belinda Smetioukh says people with fresh tattoos now only have to wait a week to donate blood instead of four months

Transcript

Australian Red Cross Lifeblood’s Belinda Smetioukh says people with fresh tattoos now only have to wait a week to donate blood instead of four months · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: We know that tattooed Australians can now donate blood just
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: a week after getting fresh ink and can also give
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  Speaker 1: plasma immediately following changes announced today. The move is set
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  Speaker 1: to lead to an extra ten thousand donations each year.
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  Speaker 1: And joining us on the line to talk through those
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  Speaker 1: changes it is Australian Red Cross Lifeblood INTI spokesperson Belinda Snitcherk.
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  Speaker 1: Good morning to you, Belinda, Good morning, Thanks so very
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  Speaker 1: much for your time today. Belinda, firstly, talk us through
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  Speaker 1: what these changes are.
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  Speaker 2: Well, it's really exciting these changes and they couldn't have
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  Speaker 2: come at a better time with winter seeing donor numbers
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  Speaker 2: right down at the moment. So these changes, after a
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  Speaker 2: lot of research and extensive modeling, have shown that it
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  Speaker 2: causes no risks to our already very safe blood supply.
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  Speaker 2: Will our people who have had a tattoo in a
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  Speaker 2: registered parlor to come in and go donate blood just
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  Speaker 2: seven days later, and that's down from a four months
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  Speaker 2: wait previously, and then you can also donate plasma immediately.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah right, How big a difference do you reckon this
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  Speaker 1: is going to make comparatively to the timeframes that were
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  Speaker 1: previously in place.
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  Speaker 2: Well, I think it's going to make a pretty big
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  Speaker 2: difference because I mean people don't necessarily just get one tattoo.
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  Speaker 2: They could get a tattoo and then a few months
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  Speaker 2: later get another one and be you know, previously unable
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  Speaker 2: to donate for quite some period of time. And Spacific
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  Speaker 2: show that one in four of us is now ink.
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  Speaker 2: So with so many people getting tattoos and it's showing
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  Speaker 2: no sign of abating, it's going to make a huge
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  Speaker 2: difference to us. And we're preticting about nextra ten thousand
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  Speaker 2: donations every year. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Now, we know that there are a lot of people
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  Speaker 1: who travel to the likes of Bali though and get tattoos.
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  Speaker 1: Do these changes work for them as well?
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  Speaker 2: These are the tattoo These rules are just for tattoos
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  Speaker 2: done a registered powers in Australia. If you do get
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  Speaker 2: a tattoo overseas, it's still the four months wait. So
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  Speaker 2: you can absolutely donate blood, but you'll have to wait
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  Speaker 2: for four months.
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  Speaker 1: Now, how many extra donations do you reckon this is
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  Speaker 1: going to mean for the northern territories specifically, Do we
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  Speaker 1: have any of those numbers?
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  Speaker 2: It's hard to tell. I mean, I don't have the
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  Speaker 2: numbers of I mean that one and four of US
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  Speaker 2: Australia wide. I'm not sure if the numbers in the
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  Speaker 2: NPTY specifically, but it'll certainly be a significant change. And
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  Speaker 2: you know right now in NT, just the next week
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  Speaker 2: we need another one hundred donors and double that the
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  Speaker 2: week following, So if someone's just gotten a tattoo, then
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  Speaker 2: they will be able to donate next week, and would
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  Speaker 2: absolutely love to see them in donating.
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  Speaker 1: Now at what sparked the change.
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  Speaker 2: We're always trying to review and keep up to date
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  Speaker 2: with medical science and evidence, and we want to make donating,
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  Speaker 2: as you know, aailable to as many people as possible.
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  Speaker 2: So we had previously reduced this weight time to form,
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  Speaker 2: and now we've done that extra research and found that
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  Speaker 2: actually it's fine to reduce it to seven days. So
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  Speaker 2: it's just part of our continual effort to try and
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  Speaker 2: make it by donation available to many people as possible
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  Speaker 2: while still maintaining safety of our blood.
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  Speaker 1: SUPI yeah, which is so incredibly important. I know that
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  Speaker 1: there is a lot of work that goes in to
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  Speaker 1: doing both of those things. Tell me where can people
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  Speaker 1: go to donate here in the Northern Territory if they
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  Speaker 1: are Kin.
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  Speaker 2: We have our Dona Center in Casarina. The easiest way
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  Speaker 2: to make an appointment is you can jump online at
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  Speaker 2: lifelood dot com TODAYU. You can call us on thirteen
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  Speaker 2: fourteen ninety five, or you can download the free Donate
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  Speaker 2: Blood app and make your equipment from there.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Blinda, lovely to speak to you this morning. I
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  Speaker 1: really appreciate your time and appreciate you talking us through
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  Speaker 1: those changes.
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  Speaker 2: Thanks so much, curR