AM25-SN-30-L - Ethical Dilemmas in Compensating Blood Donors: Navigating Global Health Perspectives

Sunday, October 26, 2025

5:00 PM - 6:00 PM PT

Location: 20A

Program Chair(s)

Eric Matthews, PhD, DHSc, MSEd, MA (he/him/his)

Professor and Chair
Department of Health Sciences, AT Still University
Mesa, Arizona

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose

Speaker(s)

Richard R. Gammon, MD

Medical Director, Transfusion Medicine & Blood Bank
Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute
Tampa, Florida

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose
Ludwig R. Frontier, MD, MSc, MBA, DHSc. (he/him/his)

Senior Medical Manager
Macopharma
Atlanta, Georgia

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose

Proposed Session Description: Blood donation is vital for public health, yet debates about compensating donors have revealed a complex ethical landscape. While payment may boost supply, it risks exploiting vulnerable populations (e.g., economically disadvantaged individuals, undocumented immigrants, students, and young adults in financial distress). It is also contrary to the World Health Organization's 2010 publication Towards 100% Voluntary Blood Donation, A Global Framework for Action, which recommends all voluntary, unpaid donations rooted in altruism, volunteerism, and social solidarity.

The attendee will examine the ethical tensions and the delicate balance between ensuring a safe, sufficient, and sustainable blood supply while adhering to principles of fairness and non-exploitation. Attendees will explore various philosophical frameworks, including virtue ethics, deontology, consequentialism, relativism, and postmodernism, and will be shown how to navigate them to make an informed decision. Discussions will include the impact of globalization on ethical values, the challenges of chronic blood shortages, and the influence of political and commercial interests on policymaking. This session offers a fresh perspective on this topic, aiming to recruit and retain donors ethically while addressing the reality of payment as a potential strategy for stabilizing the blood supply and incorporating real-world data. It will conclude with interactive real-world scenarios.

Learning Objectives:

Identify the complex ethical landscape that defines voluntary and paid blood donors, their role in public health, and the current concerns with the blood supply.
Articulate the different philosophical frameworks of thought to the bioethical case of blood donation and explain how each will help you make an informed decision.
Develop a fresh perspective on this topic, aiming to recruit and retain donors ethically while addressing the reality of payment as a potential strategy for stabilizing the blood supply and incorporating real-world data.
The attendees will have the opportunity to interpret real-world scenarios.