UK: NHS urges South Asian community to donate plasma in large numbers

The National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom is urging Asian people who have had coronavirus and recovered to donate plasma. According to experts, people of Asian backgrounds are far more likely to have the antibody-rich plasma which could save the lives of people with COVID-19. As per the NHS, Asian people have higher levels of antibodies in comparison to white people or people of European descent. The NHS said that Asian people are donating in large numbers as currently, the equation stands at 7 percent of the total plasma donors in the UK, however, it asked them to donate more as they are twice as likely to have high enough antibodies for their donations to be used in trials. 

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'Could save a life'

"We have had a fantastic response from the Asian community. COVID-19 is attacking the Asian community more than the wider community and donating plasma could save a life," said Rekha Anand, Consultant Haematologist for NHSBT. Dr. Suhail Asghar, from NHSBT’s Clinical Support Team, said, "Some people may feel nervous about donating, particularly if they’ve had a tough time with coronavirus. Our donation team will look after you and people usually feel fantastic after donating, knowing they are doing something to help the community."

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The United Kingdom has opened plasma donation banks across the country. According to the NHS, 1191 of 16,033 donors who booked appointments for plasma donations were Asian, 727 of 10,806 donors bled were Asian, 345 of 3,125 donors providing high enough antibody donations were Asians. The above-mentioned figures do not include donors where ethnicity was unknown. The NHS also revealed that 44.1 percent of Asian first-time donors had high enough antibodies for the trial as compared to the 22.4 percent white donors. As per experts, the more seriously ill a patient becomes, the more antibodies he/she is likely to produce. 

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