Vitamins and other nutritional supplements - Whole Blood and Components

Essential information

Obligatory

Must not donate if:

On prescribed medication to treat a deficiency.

Discretionary

1. Medication to prevent recurrence, as opposed to treat a deficiency (e.g. B12 for treated pernicious anaemia or folic acid for treated folate deficiency), accept.
2. If on oral self-medication, accept.
3. If on Vitamin D supplement to treat risk of vitamin D deficiency, accept.

Supporting information

See if relevant

• Anaemia
• Osteopenia

Additional information

People who are on treatment to cure a vitamin or other nutritional deficiency other than Vitamin D supplementation to prevent or treat osteopenia should not donate, even if they pass the haemoglobin-screening test.

Once treatment is completed, even if they then require maintenance treatment, they should be accepted or excluded on the basis of the underlying condition that required treatment. As an example, a person with pernicious anaemia (vitamin B12 deficiency) should not be accepted until their anaemia is fully corrected. Once fully recovered, they may be accepted, even though receiving maintenance treatment to prevent recurrence.

Vitamins and other nutritional supplements are often prescribed to prevent deficiency. For example, this might be for coeliac disease or for people wanting to conceive. Providing any underlying condition is not a reason to exclude the donor, they should be accepted.

Reason for change:

Advice about Vitamin D supplementation and a link to osteopenia has been added, see the letter from UK Chief Medical Officers of UK Feb 2012: www.gov.uk/government/publications/vitamin-d-advice-on-supplements-for-at-risk-groups

Version details:

WB-DSG Edition 203 Release 22 (17 June 2014)