[How human sciences can help to understand blood donation?]

In France, the necessity of managing sanitary risks associated with blood transfusion has induced a strong medicalization of blood collection. Practicing this activity of transfusion medicine confronts the professional with problems which the medical science is not sufficient to answer: curbs and motivations for donating, seasonal and geographic fluctuations in blood collection, sense of pre-donation interview, individual or collective contestings of guidelines for blood collection. From recent sociological works on donation in France, especially on blood donation, this paper suggests reporting the complexity of blood donation thought process and the necessity to refer to human and social sciences to approach it in a best way. Understanding the gift should help professionals to communicate not only on the promotion of blood donation, but also on the risk and its management.