Dhe thousands of French patients suffering from rare diseases who require the use of plasma-derived medicinal products (MDP) from donations are penalized by the organization of our collection system, which generates shortages. While other European countries have taken effective measures to increase the volumes of plasma collected, in France we have chosen to manage these shortages, thus demonstrating our inability to question in depth a system whose foundations date from the Second World War. world.
However, to date, no treatment or synthetic drug can replace blood plasma. For people with neurological, dysimmune, hematological, metabolic or genetic diseases, the chronic inability of our “plasma industry” to adapt to the needs of patients results in therapeutic management that generates a loss of chances for patients. .
Thus, for lack of sufficient access to MDPs, the medical profession is led despite itself to cross a red line in terms of ethics, by selecting the patients who will be treated and those who will not. Worse, we are seeing the re-emergence of the prescription of molecules with the sole aim of limiting the consumption of MDP, resulting in serious adverse effects.
We can no longer stand still in the face of degraded lives, shattered hopes, families discouraged by a situation that is unfair for the sick and intolerable for caregivers. It is a fact, the volumes of plasma currently collected in our country do not cover the real needs. French self-sufficiency in the CDM must therefore be redefined (because it is utopian as it stands) and include all the players working in this sector.
Eloquent figures
Changing our model in depth is a necessity if we want to stop flouting the constitutional principle of equal access to care on the altar of “ethics”. In France, blood donation is based on the principles of anonymity, volunteering, volunteering and the absence of profit. It is thus defined as “ethical”; no one questions that. However, the restrictive application of the principles of encouraging donation, specific to France, limits the number of donors and, mechanically, deprives patients of treatment. The Minister of Health and Prevention himself launched an appeal for donations and expressed his concerns on January 5.
The numbers speak for themselves. France has nearly 67 million inhabitants and, according to the French Blood Establishment (EFS), only 0.2% of citizens make at least one plasma donation per year. While 29.3% of donors are between 45 and 55 years old, young people between 18 and 35 years old are those who donate the least, thus demonstrating their lack of interest in plasma donation.
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