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HEALTH

Reader question: Are Brits in Switzerland still banned from donating blood?

For many years, people coming from the United Kingdom were banned from donating their blood in Switzerland. This is what the situation is right now.

Reader question: Are Brits in Switzerland still banned from donating blood?
Mad cow disease is no longer a threat to blood donations for the most part. Image by Ahmad Ardity from Pixabay

The ‘blood ban’ that extended to British citizens or those of any nationality who had lived in the UK (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland), was implemented for safety purposes.

The reason was the so-called mad cow disease (BSE), which was particularly rampant in Great Britain in the 1980s and 1990s.

Many people contracted and even died from the cattle-borne condition known scientifically as Creutzfeld-Jakob disease.

It is believed that one in 2,000 people in the UK is a carrier of the disease. 

While most of them got BSE from eating contaminated beef, “experience tells us that the disease could be transmitted from human to human via blood”, according to a BBC report.

As a result, a number of governments, including the Swiss, prohibited people from the UK to donate blood.

However, this rule is no longer in force in Switzerland.

According to Geneva’s university hospital (HUG), which is a member of the national blood transfusion network Blutspende and follows the same rules, only people who had lived in the UK between 1980 and 1996 for more than six months at a stretch still can’t donate blood.

This is a period when the BSE outbreak was at its worst in the UK.

If you had lived in Great Britain prior to or after that date, you can safely donate your blood.

Have there been any BSE cases in Switzerland?

About 465 cases had been reported in Switzerland between 1990 and 2020, with less than 20 deaths.

There are still isolated cases of BSE throughout Europe, but they are no longer a cause for as much concern as previously.

Can everyone donate blood in Switzerland?

Gay men are still not allowed to do so.

Under Swiss law, any man who has had sex with another man is prevented from donating blood for 12 months — the legislation was introduced during the the AIDS pandemic in the 1980s, while the 12-month rule was introduced in 2017.

However, in March 2020, the National Council’s Commission for Social Security and Health said the rule was “no longer appropriate” and filed a motion to rescind it. 

READ MORE: Switzerland to clear way for gay and bisexual men to donate blood

Who else is prevented from donating blood?

According to Blutspende, these medical and other conditions disqualify people from donating blood in Switzerland:

  • Positive test for HIV (AIDS), syphilis, hepatitis C and hepatitis B
  • Prostitution
  • Past or present drug use by injection
  • Blood transfusion after 01.01.1980

These reasons could be a cause for deferral though not an outright ban:

  • Stay during the past six months in a region where malaria is endemic, without any health problem (in case of illness with fever, tell the doctor at the blood donation centre).
  • Suffering from a sexually transmitted disease during the past 12 months
  • Change of sexual partner during the past four months
  • Sexual intercourse with multiple partners during the past 12 months
  • Stay of six months or longer in the past 12 months in countries with a high HIV-prevalence

More information about blood donation in Switzerland can be found here.

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HEALTH

Why do so many foreign doctors practice in Switzerland?

Slightly more than 40 percent of medical professionals working in Switzerland are of foreign origin, and their numbers are growing. What is the reason for this upward trend?

Why do so many foreign doctors practice in Switzerland?

In 2023, there were 16,590 foreign physicians working in Switzerland, according to a press release published by the Swiss Medical Association (FMH) on Wednesday.

While that in itself may not seem like a huge number, it constitutes 40.4 percent of the physicians practicing in Switzerland.

And this figure is not static: it has grown from ‘only’ 9,756 a decade ago.

Why has this been happening?

At least part of the answer lies in the general shortage of qualified personnel that has been plaguing many sectors of Switzerland’s economy — including healthcare.

“This increased need to call on foreign specialised personnel reminds us that there are not enough doctors trained in Switzerland to cover needs,” the FMH said.

Medical experts have been sounding the alarm about this scarcity.

According to FMH’s president Yvonne Gilli, Switzerland is training too few doctors, which will create a “healthcare gap” and have dire consequences in the near future, especially since more people are living longer and are developing chronic illnesses.

READ ALSO : Why Switzerland faces dire problem of doctor shortages 

Where is Switzerland recruiting doctors from?

Germany is by far the country that ‘exports’ the most doctors to Switzerland, (50.2 percent).

Italy comes next with 9.5 percent, followed by France (7.1 percent) and Austria (6 percent).

The reason for this is simple and pragmatic at the same time: these physicians not only speak one of the national languages, but they are also EU nationals, which means they can work in Switzerland with no problem.

That’s because the agreement on the free movement of people allows the recognition of diplomas from EU and EFTA states, though doctors coming from those countries must still obtain an authorisation to practice in Switzerland.

Are Swiss doctors required to speak English?

Most physicians working in Switzerland have some level of English proficiency, ranging from basic to fluent because much of medical literature, as well as some exams, are in English only.

However, the only official requirement set by both the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) and the FMH is that doctors practicing in Switzerland must speak the language of the canton in which they work (which is why physicians from Germany, Italy, France, and Austria are recruited) . 

Nowhere in the official requirements list, however, is there any mention of the obligation to be proficient in English in order to be able to practice medicine in Switzerland.

READ ALSO : Do all doctors in Switzerland have to speak English? 

And if you are new in Switzerland and are looking for a physician, this article will provide useful information:

READ ALSO: What you should know about finding a doctor in Switzerland
 
 
 
 

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