China is going through a blood famine, and people are forced to look into the black market for more supply.
Over the last few years, since the major reforms implemented by its health agency, more people have become blood heads, selling their donation certificates to those with money so they too can get blood from the national bank.
Blood heads are not a new phenomenon in the country. Many years before, to increase blood supply, the government encouraged the farmers to donate their plasma and blood. But the incidence of HIV also increased due to poor bloodletting and hygiene.
As a way of improving their image and of professionalizing bloodletting and donations, the government, by middle of 1990s, implemented stringent guidelines. First, the screening process became stricter and that blood sales became a prohibited activity. Rather, the government encouraged donations from friends, relatives, and immediate family members of patients.
Many health care facilities also implemented a rule: only those with certificates that prove they have donated blood can access the blood supply.
This then created a huge problem for a number of reasons. One, not everyone is capable or allowed to donate blood. Second, most provinces keep their supplies to themselves. Third, A person is allowed to donate only twice a year.
Those who need but can't give blood therefore seek for blood heads. These are people who donate blood, receive certificates, and sell these documents to the desperate. On the average, a 100cc blood can cost more than $150.
The government acknowledges the presence of blood heads and has thus launched crackdowns, but they are not consistent. Often, too, blood heads feel they're protected by these same police officers.
The country itself certainly needs blood supply and usually taps on students and the military to help increase it. They have also encouraged their own employees to do the same, but some documents reveal that these people also rely on blood heads to meet their blood supply targets.
