Can I become a blood donor?

You can not give blood if it could be harmful for your own or the patient's safety. For example, if you have been at risk of contracting HIV or other blood-borne infectious diseases. That is why we ask a few medical questions before you register as a donor and you fill out a medical questionnaire at your first appointment (and before each donation). If everything is okay at your first appointment and in the blood test, we will invite you to give blood soon afterwards.

Unfortunately, you can't become a donor if:

• you are younger than 18 or older than 65

  In the Netherlands, someone between 18 and 65 years of age can register as a donor. A person of this age can normally easily give a half liter of blood. The risk of complications increases  in older people and in the Netherlands donation is not permitted beyond the age of 79 years. Because of the possible health risks to donors we do not allow people of 64 and older to sign up and start donating.

• you weigh less than 50 kg

  We are allowed to remove up to 15% of the total blood volume (and this is linked to a person's weight and height). Otherwise the health of a donor could be put at risk. If you are only temporarily lighter than 50 kilograms, please sign up when you have put on weight again.

• you have ever received an organ or tissue transplant from another person

  There is a very small chance that you could have contracted Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease through the transplant. This is a very rare disease that can be transmitted through transfusion and transplantation. Unfortunately, there is no test for it.

  To prevent you from infecting someone else as a donor, there is an agreement that it is not possible for you to be a blood doner if you have had an organ or tissue transplant. This is a precautionary measure. The chance that you have actually contracted Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is very small.

• you have ever injected drugs

  You cannot register as a donor if you have ever injected drugs, even if it was only once or a long time ago. Because there is a higher risk of blood-borne infections you cannot give blood.
  If you have snorted cocaine, you are allowed to give blood four months after the last time you used cocaine. So if you use cocaine more frequently than once every four months, it is not possible to become a donor.

• you have diabetes and use insulin injections

  If you have diabetes, you can only become a donor if you don’t use insulin injections. Using tablets is not a problem if your diabetes is stable.

• you have a chronic condition or serious illness or have had one in the past

  We need more information before we can say whether you can become a donor. Please call our donor information line (088-730 8686) to discuss your personal situation with a Sanquin staff member.