McIntosh and Manetti: Greece’s Plasma Strategy Must Follow Evidence, Not Fear

David McIntosh, Founder and Chair of United Plasma Action, shared a post by Duccio Manetti on LinkedIn:

”This excellent post from Dr Manetti is well worth re-reading in the interesting context of the Greek Healthcare Authorities also embarking on a positive updating of their national plasma collection arrangements.
There have recently been outrageous claims made by some misguided people in Greece – asserting that the involvement of the commercial sector in plasma collection is against patients’ interests.

These spurious allegations are not only irrational nonsense. If listened to, or even worse, acted upon, they could threaten patients’ lives.
The calm 100% patient-centred approaches that Dr Manetti describes here have been proven, over and over again, to be the best way to deliver to patients the life-saving medicines that they so badly need for an acceptable lifestyle, and often for life itself.

This form of plasma collection – Voluntary Reasonably Compensated Donation (VRCD) has been proven beyond any reasonable doubt, over many years, in the USA, in Germany and in Austria, Hungary, and Czechia. More recently, VRCD has also begun to transform the plasma medicines scene in Egypt, too – increasing both the level and the security of medicines supplies to patients in that country.

Now, thanks to far-sighted decision-making by the Greek Government, Greece is also committed to joining the growing group of pioneering countries that are actually delivering for their patients.
It behoves us all to support Greece in this splendid patient-positive endeavour and give the lie to those who would raise their voices against it.”

Quoting Duccio Manetti’s post:

”A UNIQUE LINK? YES.
How (UNICA) Plasma Donors Help Save Millions of Lives​

I love the fact that, in the heart of Europe and in a wonderful city like Prague, Kedrion now has eight gems – our eight UNICA Plasma collection centers.

Founded in 2008, UNICA PLASMA by Kedrion employs more than 100 people and collects over 100,000 liters of plasma every year – numbers that truly speak for themselves.

In our new brand at Kedrion Biopharma, we like to talk about the power of rare connections – the human-to-human links that make our work meaningful.
In our case, these connections begin with the act of donation: people who give their plasma to help others. This act is only possible thanks to the plasma collection centers that provide a safe and controlled environment for donation.

The rare plasma we collect is what enables us to develop therapies that save lives and support people living with rare conditions.

On November 5th, in Prague, at our UNICA Plasma collection center, we celebrated the powerful link between donors and patients.

We opened our doors to employees, patient associations, Rene Brectan, Camelia I., and institutions. I am deeply grateful to the Italian institutions Maria Cristina Falvella, Danilo Manghi in Prague, and to the patient organizations who joined us to witness the excellence of the UNICA Plasma brand by Kedrion Biopharma.

𝐴 ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑓𝑒𝑙𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑐𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑔𝑢𝑒𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑒. 𝐿𝑒𝑡’𝑠 𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑚𝑎 – 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠, 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜𝑢𝑐ℎ𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑚𝑖𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛.”

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