IBTO Denies Importing Blood

Iran’s Blood Transfusion Organization has denied a statement by the Islamic Republic of Iran   Customs Administration about importing whole blood.

Speaking to ISNA, Bashir Hajibeygi, IBTO spokesperson, accused the IRICA of “spreading false news” and said his organization has never imported blood.

“For years, the customs administration’s statistics department has been making the same claims and IBTO has provided detailed explanations to the contrary each time,” he said, expressing dissatisfaction with IRICA’s lack of responsibility.

According to the official, importing and exporting whole blood (not to be confused with plasma) is restricted worldwide due to sanitary reasons.

He said the customs authority might have been referring to the import of empty blood bags or blood products that are used for microbial culture in laboratories.

“Transfusion medicine is a scientific field with specialized terminologies that demand adequate knowledge to be understood,” he said, adding that lack of proper understanding and knowledge lead to confusion and false interpretations.

Reviews of the statistics show that what has been announced in the news as whole blood were in fact pharmaceutical products and laboratory cultivations of microbes.

“A list of imported goods fall under the category of ‘human and animal blood’ in the customs import chart, which is only a general term and does not refer to the import of whole blood,” said Hajibeygi.