Blood donation: inferior treatment of women. Did you know?

Men can donate 2,700 ml of blood per year, while women can donate 1,800 ml. This differentiation leads to a situation where women need more time to donate the same amount of blood as men, exceeding 1800 ml, assuming donation at the maximum amount and annual frequency. This results in inferior treatment of women, since the same amount of blood, exceeding 1800 ml, is used as a criterion for concessions, entitlements and decorations, including the badge "Honorary Blood Donor - Meritorious for the Health of the Nation."

Marcin Wiącek asks Izabela Leszczyna to consider equalizing the situation of men and women in acquiring the title of Distinguished Honorary Blood Donor and related privileges. 

Given the fundamental importance of the principle of gender equality in the Polish, European and international legal order, the RPO draws attention to the problem of the unequal legal situation of men and women donating blood. According to the Regulation of the Minister of Health of September 11, 2017 on the conditions for collecting blood from blood donor candidates and blood donors, men are allowed to donate 2,700 ml of blood per year, while women are allowed to donate 1,800 ml. 

However difficult it is to argue with the limits indicated in the regulations, it is on the volume of blood donated that the regulations condition the granting of certain concessions, entitlements and decorations, including the badge "Honorary Blood Donor - Meritorious for the Health of the Nation." Thus, a woman - assuming she donates blood at the maximum volume and maximum annual frequency - will always, relative to a man acting in the same way, acquire the right to these concessions and privileges later.

The unequal treatment of female and male blood donors in this regard has already been the subject of the Ombudsman's correspondence with the Ministry of Health. So far, the ministry has taken the position that there is no possibility of changes regarding donation intervals. They would result in high operational costs for the public blood service system (replacement of existing badges). An important element hindering the changes is the incomplete records in the information systems. In addition, it would cause difficulties in confirming and verifying the volume of donated blood or equivalent amounts of blood components. 

Nonetheless, the MZ's response also indicated that a new blood and blood donation regulation is being worked on, which is expected to introduce additional honors after donating 50 liters of blood or equivalent amounts of blood components for men and 40 liters for women.

From the perspective of the principle of equality, the questionable issue is not the differential treatment in the frequency of blood donations from men and women on an annual basis, which can be justified by physiological differences between the sexes, as the Minister of Health confirmed in his response. The inferior treatment of women compared to men caused by such differentiation should be considered a violation of the principle of equality in a situation in which the same amount of blood, exceeding 1,800 ml, is used as a criterion for entitling blood donors to certain rights or granting them certain privileges.

According to the ROP, Article 7(1) of the Public Blood Service Law, in conjunction with the provisions of the Regulation on the Conditions for Collection of Blood from Blood Donor Candidates and Blood Donors, leads to indirect discrimination. The provision of the law stipulates that Distinguished Honorary Blood Donors who have donated at least 20 liters of blood or an equivalent volume of blood components may be awarded orders and decorations, as well as the badge "Honorary Blood Donor - Meritorious for the Health of the Nation." Due to the limits on the frequency of blood donation indicated in Annex 3 to the regulation, a woman will be able to meet this condition in a donation period of 11.11 years, while a man will be able to meet this condition in a donation period of 7.4 years.

The adopted objective criterion of the amount of blood donated - the same for both sexes, due to the indicated limitation in the frequency of annual blood donations by women and men - therefore puts women at a disadvantage compared to men. This is because it generates a disproportionately longer donation period needed for them to obtain the entitlement to orders and decorations associated with this criterion.

A similar disproportionality compared to the differentiation of blood donation limits per year for men and women also occurs under certain provisions of the u.p.s.k.. They introduce differentiation for men and women in the amount of blood entitling them to certain entitlements or granting them certain privileges, such as Article 6(3-5) of the u.p.s.k., which defines the conditions for obtaining the title of Distinguished Honorary Blood Donor of the 3rd degree, 2nd degree and 1st degree, and the bronze, silver and gold badge of honor, respectively. 

According to the nin, to obtain the title of "Meritorious Honorary Blood Donor of the Third Degree" and the bronze badge of honor "Meritorious Honorary Blood Donor of the Third Degree" a woman is entitled after 2.7 years of donation (the requirement to donate at least 5 liters of blood), a man - after 2,2 years of donation (at least 6 liters of blood), the title "Meritorious Honorary Blood Donor of the Second Degree" and the silver badge of honor "Meritorious Honorary Blood Donor of the Second Degree" a woman is entitled after 5.5 years of donation (at least 10 liters of blood), a man - after 4.4 years of donation (at least 12 liters of blood), while the title of "Distinguished Honorary Blood Donor 1st Degree" and the gold badge of honor "Distinguished Honorary Blood Donor 1st Degree" a woman is entitled after 8.3 years of donation (at least 15 liters of blood), while a man - after 6.6 years of donation (at least 18 liters of blood) - assuming donation of blood in the maximum annual amount and frequency provided for under the ordinance for men and women.

The ROP's recommendation should be applied to all entitlements granted to blood donors, both those currently in force and those being designed. And financial considerations cannot justify maintaining legal solutions that violate the principle of gender equality, at most allowing it to be achieved in a gradual manner.

Sharing the MZ's position that blood donation is a mission and responsibility, and that the awareness of saving someone's life is one of the most important values of honorary blood donation, the RPO stresses that all people who choose to donate blood should be entitled to the entitlements and privileges that this entails, regardless of their gender and other characteristics, such as their basis or form of realization of professional activity. 

Thus, a decision taking the form of a rule of general law or local law, should in all circumstances implement the constitutional standard of equality. Meanwhile, applications received by the BRPO show that self-employed individuals who are blood donors cannot enjoy the rights - the same or similar - enjoyed by blood donors who are employees under an employment relationship.

Marcin Wiącek asks the Minister to consider equalizing the situation of women and men in terms of acquiring the title of Distinguished Honorary Blood Donor and related privileges by introducing in the law such criteria for the amount of donated blood for women and men that remain in proportion to the difference in the frequency of donation by women and men, resulting from the regulation, in order to equalize the period of donation as a criterion for acquiring certain rights or privileges.

He also asks at what stage are the changes in blood donation regulations announced in the letter of July 28, 2023, and whether they are planned to include the need to ensure equal treatment for all blood donors, to the extent indicated above.

Source: RPO