Blood Donor Incentives across 63 Countries: The BEST Collaborative Study

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Policy
• Behavioral Economics

Background:

• Ensuring a sufficient blood supply is critical for healthcare systems worldwide.
• Incentives for blood donors are a debated strategy to meet this need.
• Global knowledge regarding specific incentive policies is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To comprehensively describe incentive policies for whole blood donors across 63 countries and the 50 United States states.
• To analyze the types, values, and geographical distribution of these incentives.
• To compare current practices with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines.

Main Methods:

• Conducted two surveys among representatives of blood collection establishments.
• Integrated data from an existing study and the World Health Organization (WHO).
• Performed web content analysis of blood collector websites and news releases for extended data.

Main Results:

• Approximately half of surveyed countries utilize financial incentives (cash, tax benefits) and non-financial incentives (healthcare supplements, raffles).
• Time off work is a common incentive, with variations in duration and eligibility.
• Incentive policies show geographical clustering, with neighboring countries often sharing similar approaches.
• Half of the countries surveyed offer high-value incentives, diverging from WHO guidelines.

Conclusions:

• Significant global diversity exists in blood donor incentive policies.
• Current practices, particularly high-value incentives, often contrast with WHO recommendations.
• Development of context-specific, realistic guidelines may be necessary to maintain adequate blood supplies.