China faces severe plasma shortage: health minister

 　　BEIJING, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- China is faced with severe challenges in collecting enough blood plasma¹ to produce medicines, Health Minister Chen Zhu said Sunday.

　　Chen called on the public to join blood donation after donating blood plasma at the Beijing Red Cross Blood Center on Sunday, the fifth time since he took office in 2007.

　　Blood plasma is needed to make blood products like prothrombin complex which is vital for hemophiliacs.

　　The total volume of blood plasma collected last year was 4,180 tonnes, while the volume needed to produce enough medicines was 8,000 tonnes, said a statement from the ministry². The situation became even worse this year.

　　Donations of blood plasma in China fell dramatically in recent years, as a result of safety concerns from donors³ and the government's efforts to regulate blood collection after contamination triggered HIV infection scandals.

　　In an overhaul⁴ of plasma collection services in 2004, the ministry closed 262 donation centers, leaving only 138 in operation, resulting in the plasma donations falling at least one-third from 5,000 tonnes in 2003.

　　Blood plasma are currently collected at 144 designed stations across the mainland. The stations, as requested by law, are all owned by major manufacturers of blood products.

　　Chen promised to encourage qualified⁵ drug makers⁶ to set up more collection stations in the next five years.

　　He also assured the public the safety of blood donation at authorized⁷ stations.

1 plasma   

n.血浆，细胞质，乳清

参考例句：

• Keep some blood plasma back for the serious cases.留一些血浆给重病号。
• The plasma is the liquid portion of blood that is free of cells .血浆是血液的液体部分，不包含各种细胞。

2 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

3 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

5 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

6 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。