Backgrounder: Plasma

Key Facts

  • Plasma is the protein-rich liquid in blood that helps other blood components circulate throughout your body.
  • Plasma supports our immune systems and helps control excessive bleeding, which is why plasma donations are important to help treat bleeding disorders, liver diseases and cancer.
  • Canadian Blood Services collects enough plasma to address the transfusion needs of patients in Canada.
  • 13-14 per cent of the plasma used to make plasma protein products for Canadian patients comes from non-remunerated Canadian donors.
  • 4 out of 5 of the plasma protein products used by Canadians are purchased on the global market and made from plasma from paid U.S. donors.
  • Our goal is to increase the amount of source plasma collected to an acceptable level based on the needs of Canadian patients.
  • The world’s need for plasma products will have increased 40% by the year 2020.