Current issues in transfusion medicine in Norway.

Important current issues in transfusion medicine in Norway are discussed. Current patient legislation specifically defines blood donors as patients, and blood and blood products are defined as drugs. Donor selection is controversial, especially deferral of all persons born in, or having lived for more than one year in areas with high prevalence of infections that are transmitted by blood. The threshold for becoming a blood donor is high, but registered donors donate frequently, e.g. 2,4 whole blood donations per year on average. Some blood banks have specialized in multicomponent aphereis technology, in particular collection of two units of red cells.