James Bidgood (Dawson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank honourable members who have contributed to this important debate. I inform members that 14 June is World Blood Donor Day. Being up-front, I personally cannot donate, having been in England between the years of 1980 and 1996. As a precautionary measure to prevent the potential transmission of vCJD, I am ineligible, as much I would like to, having given blood in Mackay when I first arrived in 1993. I do, however, want to help raise awareness for the need for blood donations and encourage the wider community to consider donation today. I want to congratulate members of the community who give blood, because blood is truly the gift of life. With every donation, a donor can save up to three lives or contribute to 15 different forms of lifesaving or life-improving blood products. It is a fact that many brave Australians who suffer terrible illnesses have benefited because of the generosity of Australian blood donors. Blood donors are lifesavers.

Many people in my electorate of Dawson have heeded the call from the Red Cross and regularly give blood. However, more donations are needed. People need to make giving blood a regular part of their lives. An estimated 80 per cent of the population will require blood or blood products at some time in their lives. I am sure all members know someone who has benefited from a blood donation.

I am advised that 30 per cent of all blood donated helps cancer patients, 15 per cent helps people with heart disease, another 15 per cent goes to people with stomach and bowel disease, and 12 per cent of all blood donated goes to trauma and accident victims. People requiring chemotherapy are particularly at risk unless donors come forward urgently. With 30 per cent of all blood donations going to people with cancer, many people with common blood types wrongly assume that their blood is not needed. In fact, the majority of patients in hospital are likely to have a common blood type, making these blood types high in demand.

Blood donation is one of the simplest ways to give something back to the community. Almost anyone in the community aged between 16 and 70 years who weighs more than 45 kilograms and is in reasonable good health is a potential blood donor. Blood donation begins simply by making an appointment with the Red Cross to give blood. They can do this by calling 131495. Donating blood only takes around 10 minutes, but it is advisable to allow at least an hour for the whole process, which includes a personal interview and refreshments. You can donate 470 millilitres of whole blood every 12 weeks. However, you can donate blood plasma every two weeks. It is a fact that more blood is needed.

Open-heart surgery for an adult will require two to six units; a leukaemia patient will require two to six units; and a bone marrow transplant will require one or two units, given every other day for four weeks. I could give many more statistics, but just those statistics confirm the constant need for blood supplies. There are benefits for the donor as well. Each time you donate, your blood pressure and haemoglobin levels are checked. All donated blood is screened for the presence of blood-borne diseases such as HIV1 and 2, hepatitis B and C, HTLV1 and 2—which is human T-cell lymphotropic virus—and syphilis.

Since 2005-06, the Australian Red Cross Blood Service has been fully funded jointly by the governments of Australia, with the Australian government contributing 63 per cent of funding and the remaining eight state and territory governments contributing the remaining 37 per cent on a proportional basis. Young people can and do donate too. Red Cross has a Young Bloods program that encourages students to get a group of friends together and give blood. High schools in my electorate regularly have blood donation drives, with teachers and staff getting involved too. Schools can really make a difference. I commend the schools in my electorate who hold blood donation drives, and I encourage more schools to get involved.

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