On 3 December 2013 the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee announced a new inquiry into the safety of blood, tissue and organ screening.In October a paper in the British Medical
On 3 December 2013 the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee announced a new inquiry into the safety of blood, tissue and organ screening.
In October a paper in the British Medical Journal estimated that twice as many people as previously thought could be carriers of variant Creuzfeldt-Jacob Disease (vCJD). vCJD is a disease that causes serious brain damage, often leading to death, and came to public knowledge when it was linked to eating beef and offal contaminated with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). While strict controls on meat entering the food chain were introduced after the 1996 BSE crisis, people may carry the disease for up to 30 years before displaying any symptoms.
On 29 November 2013 the Select Committee held a one-day hearing to consider this research, and heard that the protein responsible for vCJD could be present in the UK blood supply through blood and organ donation. This could clearly cause risk to recipients of blood, tissue and organ donation. The last known case of a patient contracting vCJD occurred in 2006 due to a blood transfusion in the 1990s, before the current controls were introduced. The Committee has now launched a full inquiry and is accepting written submissions until 15 January 2014.
The terms of reference for the inquiry are:
Once the inquiry is complete the Select Committee will produce a report to be put before the House of Commons. The House of Commons will likely debate the final report, although the Government is not obliged to implement or respond to it. In practice the recommendations are likely to be well publicised and will be implemented through guidance or regulations such as the Blood Safety and Quality Regulations 2005.
In October a paper in the British Medical Journal estimated that twice as many people as previously thought could be carriers of variant Creuzfeldt-Jacob Disease (vCJD). vCJD is a disease that causes serious brain damage, often leading to death, and came to public knowledge when it was linked to eating beef and offal contaminated with Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE). While strict controls on meat entering the food chain were introduced after the 1996 BSE crisis, people may carry the disease for up to 30 years before displaying any symptoms.
On 29 November 2013 the Select Committee held a one-day hearing to consider this research, and heard that the protein responsible for vCJD could be present in the UK blood supply through blood and organ donation. This could clearly cause risk to recipients of blood, tissue and organ donation. The last known case of a patient contracting vCJD occurred in 2006 due to a blood transfusion in the 1990s, before the current controls were introduced. The Committee has now launched a full inquiry and is accepting written submissions until 15 January 2014.
The terms of reference for the inquiry are:
- Are UK policies governing who can donate blood and blood products, tissues and organs sufficiently evidence-based? Is NHS Blood and Transplant overly restrictive about who can donate, or should greater precautions be taken to further reduce risk?
- Is the Government and its scientific advisory structure sufficiently responsive to the threat posed by emerging diseases being transmitted through blood and blood products, tissues and organs?
- Has the threat of ongoing transmission of vCJD through the blood and blood product supply been adequately mitigated? What are the strengths and weaknesses of NHS Blood and Transplant’s strategy, “Taking Organ Transplantation to 2020”? What further changes could be made to safely increase the supply of blood and blood products, tissues and organs?
- What lessons could be learnt from the screening and donation practices of other countries?
Once the inquiry is complete the Select Committee will produce a report to be put before the House of Commons. The House of Commons will likely debate the final report, although the Government is not obliged to implement or respond to it. In practice the recommendations are likely to be well publicised and will be implemented through guidance or regulations such as the Blood Safety and Quality Regulations 2005.