TATTOOED PEOPLE CANNOT DONATE BLOOD

MBABANE – A cosmetic choice can make one unable to save a life in the near future. A person who is wearing a tattoo, no matter how small or where it is located in the body, does not qualify to donate blood.
As the slogan goes, ‘donate blood, save a life’.

The Ministry of Health, through Senior Health Officers Voyi Voyi Ndzinisa and Nhlanhla Nhlengetfwa revealed this, saying it was also among the things they screened for when one wanted to donate blood.
Other than those with tattoos, other people who can never donate blood are those living with HIV/AIDS and cancer.

penetrate

Nhlengetfwa’s explanation for not using blood from a person with a tattoo was that, “We are aware that the ink used in tattoos may penetrate the skin and get into contact with the blood, something that may increase the risk of cancer”.
Tatoo artist Jojo Tembo said he was not aware of this fact and said it was news to him.

permanency

“We do give people advice before they take tattoos but it is usually related to permanency and the procedure in general, never about that element you just raised.”
He said even though he has been in the industry for years now, he has never even heard any of his customers discuss that issue.

Tembo said he was not sure of the consequences of the ink on the blood, but he stated that he and other tattoo artists had moved away from an older art which involved piercing of the second layer of the skin.
“The method we use now remains on the top layer of the skin and there is no contact with blood,” he said.

Even though he could not give estimation on the number of people who could be wearing tattoos in the country, Tembo revealed that he often attended to two people per week or even more during busy days.
He also attributed the low number of customers to the increase of tattoo artists, whom he said were also spread throughout the country.

emblems

He said the top three reasons why his customers came for tattoos were normally by this order; memorial (where people had certain signs and emblems with sentimental value imprinted on them); cosmetic (just for the love of it and to look nicer); and covering scars (where people want to hide scars they have on their bodies).

The artist said most of the scars that the people wanted to hide were the ones they dub bed the ‘11s’, which are related with traditional healing.
Early this year, the country received a donation of a purifying machine which was to be utilised by the blood bank.

Ndzinisa said even though she was not sure about the aspect of purification the machine carried out, she was still sure they did not accept blood donated by people living with illnesses such as HIV, diabetes and heart disease.
potential
“We also do the screening before a donation is done to check if a potential donor has the right amount of blood that one should have to qualify to be a donor,” she said.

Adding, Ndzinisa said what bothered them a lot about the tattoos was that they were not sure how the blood recipient would react after receiving blood that could be contaminated by ink. Some tattoo wearers said they were hearing this for the first time.
“Not when I was just preparing to donate blood before the end of this month! I regret the decision I took, on a serious note, and mind you I have 10 tattoos on my body already,” said the expectant mother who also has a teen son.
She said she was grateful that the article would educate many people who do not have tattoos so that they were informed before they took the decision.

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