Black Canadians face barriers when donating blood despite critical need, study says 

The data is concerning but why must academics automatically point to “racist policies” with more general than specific points although I understand the impact of historical policies:

Black people in Canada who want to donate blood face barriers, despite a critical need for specific blood types to treat sickle-cell disease, says a study published on Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

Researchers from the Interdisciplinary Centre for Black Health at the University of Ottawa shared their findings after interviewing 42 Black adults from March to June, 2023.

The study does not touch on the time period between gathering research and publishing findings.

The research findings offer new insights into complex factors at the root of why few Black individuals donate blood.

One of the co-authors, Jude Mary Cénat, a professor of psychology at the university and its research chair on Black health, said the barriers to blood donation are “predominantly rooted in the restrictive and racist policies adopted by blood donation systems in Canada.” 

As of last year, Canadian Blood Services said that Black donors accounted for just under one per cent of its entire blood donor base, about two per cent of stem-cell registrants and five per cent of cord-blood donors. By contrast, the Black population in Canada is growing and is expected to reach more than three million people by 2041. 

CBS says people in Canada from ethnically diverse backgrounds are less likely to find a matching donor because these communities are underrepresented. For its stem registry alone, 66 per cent of registrants are Caucasian. …

Source: Black Canadians face barriers when donating blood despite critical need, study says