The Importance of Plasma
“Das Blut ist ein ganz besonderer Saft” (Blood is an absolutely remarkable fluid)–Goethe, in Faust
It’s Plasma Awareness Week! One of my favorite celebrations, because plasma is truly the gift of life. 55% of your blood is made up of plasma, and it is a vital ingredient in many therapeutic products to treat diseases and disorders. Plasma Awareness Week aims to :
- Raise global awareness about source plasma collection
- Recognize the contributions of plasma donors to saving and improving lives
- Increase understanding about lifesaving plasma protein therapies and rare diseases.
It’s so important that we donate blood, or even just plasma, to give companies the needed raw material to make their pharmaceutical therapies. While this week we saw another jump in the evolution of hemophilia treatment with the approval of Hemlibra for non-inhibitor patients, plasma still holds a very important place in our global community. People with hemophilia may need it for IT therapy in combating inhibitors. And the developing world truly needs it as a source of treatment… sometimes it’s the only source.
Read the posters below to learn more, know that people around the world have disorders that absolutely require plasma therapies, and then… donate! Go here to learn more about donating. And visit PPTA to learn more as well!