Commentary: Healthpoint rewards for blood donations are a right step forward

Then there is the worry that compensating blood donors, especially vulnerable individuals, may involve coercion or exploitation. But coercion, properly understood, involves pressuring someone to do something against their interests.

Donating blood under medical supervision is not against a healthy adult’s interests. It is a low-risk act that helps strangers, and now, modestly, helps the donor. Small incentives do not cloud judgement in a manner that constitutes undue influence. And donors are not exploited when the risks to them are properly controlled.

Singapore is right to incentivise blood donation – at home, transparently, and under its own ethical control – rather than risk importing moral compromise from abroad. Properly regulated incentives can save lives without compromising the safety of donors or recipients. 

Professor Julian Savulescu is Head, Centre for Biomedical Ethics (CBmE) at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore.