Supporting volunteer plasma donation in NSW

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Supporting volunteer plasma donation in NSW

Blood and plasma donations save lives. In Australia, one in three of us will one day need someone else's blood or plasma.

But we are not donating enough to meet local demand, especially in New South Wales where we have the lowest rate of plasma donation in the country. Last year, New South Wales donated only 26 bags per thousand people compared to 37 bags in Victoria. Australia currently spends over $600 million a year buying plasma from overseas and the bill is rising. 

 

The commission projects Australia will import as much as 66% of our plasma products by 2030. This growing reliance on imported plasma comes at a cost to taxpayers as Australian governments jointly fund the supply of plasma with states funding around 40%.

 

There are also risks to our supply if we face another global pandemic or there are sudden import disruptions. Our market study called supporting volunteer plasma donation in New South Wales finds we can do more to support volunteer plasma donations to boost our supply, including allowing donors time off and travel costs when donating, exploring opportunities to enhance the donor experience, and boosting awareness of existing supports for donors. 

 

Australia is a nation of volunteers. From the volunteers involved in the Sydney Olympics to the cooks wielding tongs at the local Bunnings Barbecue to raise money for charity, we've always been willing to help our mates without expecting anything in return. If we can increase plasma donations, this would free up some of the $600 million to be spent on other health initiatives. There is a clear case to act now. It's time to roll up our sleeves.

 

Visit our website to find out more. Thank you.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About the paper

Plasma is a vital ingredient used in life-saving medicine. It is used to treat over 50 different chronic health conditions and immune deficiencies. Demand for plasma has grown quickly in recent decades – both in Australia and around the world. But donations in Australia are not keeping up. Instead, we are becoming increasingly more reliant on imports of plasma products from overseas. The countries that collect enough plasma to meet their own needs and export to other countries tend to pay their donors.

In this paper, we conduct a market study of the supply and demand for plasma in Australia. We show that boosting plasma supply is not just an important health issue, but an economic one too.

While imports of plasma products play an important role, becoming over-reliant on them can lead to increased costs to taxpayers.  Australian governments jointly fund the supply of plasma, with states funding around 40%.

We also highlight growing risks to our supply chain should we face another COVID-19-like pandemic, or sudden import disruptions.

These kinds of risks led Canada in 2022 to allow paid donations in private clinics, when their import reliance for plasma reached 80%. The Commission projects that Australia will be importing as much as 66% of its immunoglobulin by 2030, up from just 15% in 2010.

We are not yet as import reliant as Canada, but our dependence is significant and growing steadily. Doing more to boost volunteer donations could help slow or reverse this trend. We argue that there is a clear case for Australia to act now to boost donations, so we can remain a nation of volunteers.

We identify options to support volunteerism to boost plasma supply in NSW. This includes lowering barriers to volunteering and enhancing the donor experience, such as through a centralised registry and reducing wait times. More businesses and governments could offer paid donor leave to help remove time barriers to donation. They could also boost awareness about supports in place for staff to donate, which could have a big impact on participation.
 

Key findings

• Australians supply just 38% of our plasma needs, and NSW ranks lowest in per capita donations. In 2023–24, NSW donated only 26 bags per 1,000 people, compared to 84 in the ACT and 37 in Victoria. This means NSW relies more heavily on imported plasma than any other state, highlighting the need for improved volunteer collection strategies.
• Immunoglobulin is an important plasma-derived medicine. Australia used to import just 15% of our supply from overseas in 2010. But we are importing a lot more today to meet demand. If current trends continue, 66% of supply could come from overseas by 2030.
• National spending on imports of plasma products has more than doubled since 2013-14, from around $240 million to more than $600 million in 2023-24.
• According to Lifeblood, we need 100,000 new donors every year to meet the ongoing need for blood, including plasma products.
• Paid time off for staff and reimbursing travel costs to donate blood and plasma has proven to be effective in boosting donations. More businesses and governments could consider offering paid leave and boosting awareness about the benefits of donating and supports in place.
• Lifeblood and the government could test a range of approaches to enhance the donor experience in Australia – for example, reducing wait times and adopting a centralised registry that matches donor preferences with supply needs during critical shortage periods.
• More could be done to build on existing Lifeblood initiatives (for example, Lifeblood Teams competitions and mobile units) and expand the evidence base for improving participation. This could include evaluating the efficacy of workplace competitions and blood drives. Initiatives could also be explored in other community settings, like universities and churches.
• More could be done to work with NSW public service delivery agencies such as Service NSW and Health NSW to promote existing Lifeblood initiatives.