MIL OSI Translation. Government of the Republic of France statements from French to English –
Source: Switzerland – Department of Foreign Affairs in French
Federal Council
Bern, 27.09.2024 – In Switzerland, it is forbidden to pay for blood donations, and every person must have the right to donate: these are the rules laid down in the Constitution. Parliament has decided to enshrine these principles in law through an amendment. At its meeting on 27 September 2024, the Federal Council decided to bring the corresponding provisions into force in the Therapeutic Products Act on 1 January 2025.
The amendment to the Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) provides that blood donations are not remunerated in Switzerland. The principle of free donation already applies today, in accordance with the Federal Constitution, to human organs, tissues and cells and prohibits the guarantee or acceptance of any advantage in exchange for a blood donation. It is also not permitted to import blood or labile blood products for transfusion purposes if such advantages have been guaranteed or accepted. This amendment thus anchors this constitutional principle in the TPA.
The same applies to the ban on discrimination in blood donation, which is now included in the LPTh. No one may be excluded from donating blood because of, for example, their sexual orientation. The new legal provisions will come into force on 1 January 2025.
By amending the law, the Federal Council is implementing parliamentary initiative 16.504 “Guaranteed blood supply and free blood donation”. In the final vote on 29 September 2023, Parliament unanimously adopted the bill drawn up by the National Council’s Committee on Social Security and Public Health (CSSS-N). The referendum period expired on 18 January 2024 without having been used.
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Federal Office of Public Health, Media and Communication, 41 58 462 95 05, media@bag.admin.ch
Author
Federal Councilhttps://www.admin.ch/gov/fr/accueil.html
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EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is a translation. Apologies should the grammar and/or sentence structure not be perfect.