Plasma Donations in Trois-Rivières and Québec The Trifluvian Model Replicated Elsewhere in Québec

Trois-Rivières, December 6, 2021 – It was eight years ago in Trois-Rivières that Héma-Québec launched an ambitious strategy to improve the plasma supply in Québec. The success of that pilot project led to the creation of other centres elsewhere in Québec. Nathalie Fagnan, President and CEO of Héma-Québec, was in Trois-Rivières today to acknowledge the generosity of Trifluvians, during a meeting with Mayor Jean Lamarche. They both took the opportunity to donate plasma.

“It’s an honour to welcome Mr. Lamarche to our Trifluvian facility, and I thank him for joining the hundreds of his fellow citizens who have been rolling up their sleeves for multiple years and supporting the gift of life through plasma donations. On the good news side, we note that plasma donations have continued to increase steadily since the beginning of the pandemic. That said, the needs remain significant,” said Ms. Fagnan.

PLASMAVIE was established in 2013 to enable Héma-Québec to increase its plasma sufficiency rate and, thereby, decrease its foreign sourcing of this product. The Trois-Rivières donation centre was the first one, and since then, three other similar centres have opened their doors and receive donors in Saguenay, Sherbrooke and Gatineau. Plasma donating was also introduced at the GLOBULE Blood Donor Centres in the greater Montreal area, in addition to those in Québec City. All these efforts have paid off: plasma donations rose 267% between 2013 and 2021. Québec donors provide more than 140,000 litres for the manufacturing of life-saving medications, including for hemophiliacs and people with immunodeficiency, and that quantity was at just over 52,000 litres in 2013.

The Trois-Rivières PLASMAVIE team, which collected an average of 140 donations per week during its first year of operation, now collects 365 donations. However, the very strong growth in demand for products made from plasma is requiring Héma-Québec to raise its targets. So now, 415 donations a week need to be made here in Trois-Rivières.

Plasma donations

Plasma is the liquid part of blood that carries red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. By fractionating the plasma, it becomes possible to isolate and purify certain proteins, which will then be used as medications for people with compromised immune systems, or to treat a dozen other diseases, for example in neurology.

About Héma-Québec

Héma-Québec’s mission is to efficiently meet the Québec population’s needs for blood and other high-quality biological products of human origin. Héma-Québec has over 1,400 employees, nearly 196,000 donors of blood, stem cells, mother’s milk and human tissues, as well as thousands of blood drive volunteers. Every year, Héma-Québec delivers nearly 800,000 biological products of human origin to Québec’s hospitals in order to meet patients’ needs.

Give blood. Give life.

Information :

Héma-Québec
Media line | 514-832-0871
www.hema-quebec.qc.ca