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Number of blood donors increases in 2013

The law that abolishes payments for blood donation came into effect on January 1, 2013

Pensioner Yuri Martynov donated 200 liters of blood over 40 years ITAR-TASS/Dmitry Rogulin

Pensioner Yuri Martynov donated 200 liters of blood over 40 years

© ITAR-TASS/Dmitry Rogulin

MOSCOW, December 26. /ITAR-TASS/. The number of blood donors increased in 2013 despite the fact that quotas for blood donation abolished, head of the Russian Federal Biomedical Agency (FMBA) Vladimir Uyba told a news conference on Thursday.

“The total number of blood donors in 2013 is 1.425.688 people against 1.321.277 people in 2012. Thus, blood donors increased by 8 percent,” Uyba said.

In 2013 primary donors reached 517,893 people while in 2012 427,818 people donated blood for the first time. The number of those who repeated the blood donation increased by 9 percent and reached 889,849 people, the official said.

“We believe that people won’t donate blood in free charge. But this is the triumph of the programme,” he said.

The law on blood donation came into effect on January 1, 2013. The law abolishes the payment for blood donation with certain exceptions.

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