Blood donors in China may soon be eligible for rewards under the country’s social credit system, the state-owned China News Service reported Tuesday.
In a joint notice Thursday from 11 central government departments, including the National Health Commission, authorities said they hoped to encourage blood donation and were considering including it in the national social credit system. Though the notice was not explicit about how blood donations would affect social credit, it suggested that donors could be rewarded with public honors as well as free or discounted access to public facilities, including tourist attractions.
The notice also vowed to raise awareness of blood donation through television programs and advertisements, among other means. The departments called on facilities to make blood donation safer by implementing quality-control mechanisms under the guidance of relevant health authorities.
According to the National Health Commission, blood donations in China have grown each year for the past two decades, with nearly 15 million individual donations in 2018. However, safety remains a pressing concern, as some communities — such as those in the rural hinterlands ravaged by HIV in the 1980s — struggle to dispel fears of contamination.
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