Attitude towards blood donation in Germany - Results of a representative survey

Background: In order to supply enough blood and plasma to answer the growin g demand, it is necessary to increase the willingness of the population to donate, Material and Methods: To find out what people's attitudes are about this issue, a representative survey was performed in 1998 in Germany. Resu lts: 2,081 people were surveyed about their blood donation history. The res ults showed that 8% of these people donate regularly, 34% are willing to do nate but do not, and 14% strictly refuse. Conclusions: The relatively large group of 34% of potential donors could be motivated to donate with methods tailored to their demographic status.