New York's Senator
CHARLES E. SCHUMER

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 1, 2001

SCHUMER CALLS ON HHS TO DECLARE BLOOD SHORTAGE EMERGENCY IN NYC, LI

New FDA Recommendation on Banning Blood From Europe Turns Shortage Into Crisis

Senator to Unveil New 5-Point Plan to Combat Severe Local Blood Shortage

Schumer Donates Blood To Encourage Others To Give Tool; Cites Statistics to Show That Just 2% of New Yorkers Donate Blood

Standing in a New York Blood Center donor room, US Senator Charles E. Schumer today called on the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to declare a Blood Shortage Emergency in New York City and Long Island and unveiled a new five-point plan to combat the current shortage. Schumer also gave blood, and, citing statistics that show that less than 2% of eligible New Yorkers donate blood, urged the remaining 98% of eligible donors to answer his call to action and become regular blood donors.

Schumer developed his five-point plan in response to both the current, severe blood shortage in New York City and Long Island, and in the face of recommendations before the Food and Drug Administration that would effectively ban the importation of blood from Europe to avoid possible contamination by variant Creutzfeld- Jakob Disease, the human version of mad cow disease. This ban on "Euroblood" would cut New York City's blood supply by approximately 25%. In addition, people who traveled or lived in Britain for three months or more from 1980 to 1996, or spent five years in any European country since 1980 to today would also be declared ineligible to donate blood.

"This is an emergency that threatens basic patient safety," said Schumer. "Our blood supply in New York was critically low before the FDA advisory panel recommended a ban on blood from Europe, and this recommendation takes us from bad to worse. We've always been able to count on our hospitals having a safe, steady, reliable supply of blood, but that may no longer be the case if we don't find ways to dramatically and immediately increase supply."

Schumer's five-part plan to combat New York's blood shortage includes:

1. Calling on HHS to declare a Blood Shortage Emergency in the New York metropolitan area, effective immediately.
2. Calling on HHS to immediately allocate $10 million to be used for a widespread campaign to promote blood donation, including public service announcements; subway, bus, and commuter rail posters; newspaper ads and billboards; and to purchase of 10 new mobile donating vehicles to make donating blood as convenient as possible.
3. Calling on HHS to create a taskforce to develop an intense, sustained national effort to bolster awareness of the dire need for regular blood donation, and encourage a culture of responsibility around the practice.
4. Urging President Bush and Governor Pataki to offer compensatory time to state and federal government employees in New York City and Long Island offices in exchange for donating blood. This would mirror the New York City Employee Blood Program, which offers city employees three hours of compensatory time that can be used at a later date in return for donating blood. Schumer also urged government officials to donate space within their buildings for temporary use by the New York Blood Center for blood collection, and called on local business leaders to consider adopting similar compensatory programs to encourage their employees to donate blood.
5. Encouraging research efforts directed at improving our understanding of how mad cow disease and other emerging diseases may be carried in our blood and expanding research and development toward ensuring a safe and adequate blood supply, including technology to extend the shelf life of human blood and improve the efficiency of blood collection.

Anyone who wants to learn more about donating blood should call the New York Blood Center toll-free at 1-800-933-BLOOD.

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