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Are you allowed to give blood?

In principle, every healthy person between 18 and 65 years old with a weight of at least 50 kilograms can become donor and be a donor until turning 70. However, the safety of the blood is our main concern. Whoever wants to register as blood donor will therefore be tested on compliance with all safety regulations. And before every donation the donor needs to fill out a medical questionnaire.

When are you allowed to give blood?
  • From your 18th until your 65th birthday. However, you can remain a donor until your 70th year.
  • If you weigh at least 50 kg.
  • If you can express yourself adequately in Dutch or English without the need for an interpreter.

Possibly necessary to delay donation? Do the online donor test!
The outcome of the medical questionnaire that donors need to fill out before every donation at the bloodbank, determines wether a donor can actually donate blood at that particular point in time. However, with the online donortest you can, before leaving for the bloodbank, establish for yourself with a reasonable certainty whether you are allowed to give blood in your or plasma in your current condition. This test covers the most frequently occurring reasons for which the donor physician can temporarily delay your ability to give of blood. If you are a donor and the outcome is that you are not allowed to give blood at that moment, you can automatically change your appointment. Please be aware that the online donortest does not replace the medical questionnaire (Dutch).


Just to make sure before you go:
do the online donor test (in Dutch)



For example: When should you temporarily stop giving blood?
In order to avoid a pointless visit to the donor centre, please check the factors listed below that are also in the online donor test. These are frequently occurring reasons for which the donor physician can temporarily delay your ability to give of blood.
  • Visit to the dentist
    You may give blood again two days after the treatment.
  • You don’t feel well (for example, because of flu)
    You may give blood again two weeks after you have recovered.
  • Small wounds and eczema
    You may be rejected for a longer period, depending on the infection. Please contact the blood bank for more information.
  • Vaccinations
    Until four weeks after certain inoculations for the tropics. Please contact the blood bank for more information.
  • Pregnancy
    You may not give any blood until six months after the delivery.
  • Visits to an area where malaria is endemic
    This means that you may not give blood for a minimum of seven months.
  • After an operation/medical treatment (without blood transfusion)
    You must first recover, and it is therefore prudent to give blood only after a week has passed since recovery.
  • Tattoos, piercings and acupuncture
    You must not give blood for a minimum of 12 months.
  • After an operation with blood transfusion
    You cannot give blood for twelve months.
  • After an endoscopy (exploratory operation)
    You cannot give blood for twelve months.

N.B. The use of medicine is usually not a problem, but the symptoms for which you are using the medicine can sometimes be an obstacle. Acupuncture and ear lobe perforations must have occurred under hygienic conditions. For these situations, it is best to first contact a donor physician at your blood bank.

When should you permanently stop giving blood?
  • After a heart attack or if you had /have problems with blood vessels (serious arteriosclerosis, strokes).
  • After a malignant illness. There are a few exceptions to this that you could best discuss with the donor physician.
  • If you use insulin to treat diabetes mellitus.
  • The blood banks have been asking questions concerning Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease since 1995. To date, it has never been shown that Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease can be transferred by blood transfusion. In compliance with European rules and for safety’s sake, the following donors are barred from giving blood:
  • If there was treatment with growth hormone or thyroid gland hormone of human origin before 1985.
  • If there has ever been a cerebral membrane or corneal transplant.
  • If Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease occurs in the family: grandparents, parents, grandchildren, children or siblings.
  • If you spent a total of six months or more in the United Kingdom between 1 January 1980 up to and including 31 December 1996.

N.B. If you have any doubts, it is best to first consult by telephone with our donor physician.

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