Plasma donation middlemen charging 20k from COVID-19 patients, says exec

Middlemen are exploiting the COVID-19 situation by charging huge amounts in exchange for finding plasma donors for critically ill patients, an official from the Office of the Presidential Assistance for the Visayas (OPAV) said on Friday.

During the Department of Health's (DOH) virtual presser, Assistant Secretary Jonji Gonzales shared that the OPAV and other stakeholders are ramping up efforts to build a network of blood donors amid the rising COVID-19 cases in Central Visayas, particularly in Cebu City.

"We facilitated sourcing of donors at hinihingi natin ng tulong from all sectors kasi mayroon tayong mga reports na there [are] now middlemen doing the searching of these plasma and they [patients] are charged P12,000 to P20,000 per donor. Sana ito ay masugpo with the blood donation drive," Gonzales said.

DOH-Central Visayas spokesperson Dr. Mary Jean Loreche said its subnational blood center is the only licensed and authorized plasma facility in the region.

She added that protocols for plasma donation have already been crafted and expansion of the network of donors is being done with the help of the local government units and other national agencies.

"Blood is essential and vital pero hindi po ito dapat ibinebenta. We should only accept voluntary blood donations. Ayaw po namin na ang dugo po ay ibenta kasi po it will destroy the programs that we have been setting in place," Loreche said.

She also stressed the DOH-Central Visayas' need for more blood donors not only for COVID-19 patients.

"Ang subnational blood center lang po ngayon ang gumagana na blood center sa Visayas po kasi ang iba ay hindi po muna nagba-blood letting. Naka-focus po ang lahat sa COVID," she said.

"The rainy days are here, dengue season is up again and there will be operations, there will be atients who will be needing blood," she added.

Convalescent plasma transfusion, a still experimental treatment, is being promoted in the country as medical experts believe that the antibodies of those who already survived the virus would help other patients with severe COVID-19 to recover.

Senator Sonny Angara, a COVID-19 survivor, recently launched a website directly connecting interested plasma donors to accredited collecting hospitals in Metro Manila. -NB, GMA News