Erices Rainer
Institut für Geschichte und Ethik der Medizin, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, Glückstraße 10, 91054, Erlangen, Germany.
Wien Med Wochenschr. 2018 Nov;168(15-16):384-390. doi: 10.1007/s10354-018-0643-1. Epub 2018 Jul 10.
Using the East-West blood trade of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in the 1980s as an example, this study aims to show what kind of problems arise when trade agreements are made with authoritarian regimes, where transparency is lacking and the general public is not informed about the trading conditions. Files from the Ministry of Health and the Foreign Trade Ministry show the extent, aims, and scope of the blood exports to the West. Within the East-West trade, blood was regarded solely as a commercial good; ethical concerns played no part. The blood trade was the most important income source of unscheduled foreign currency for the GDR health sector. People were asked to donate for the wellbeing of society and without receiving remuneration. They were unaware that their blood was an object of commercial trade. Most of the revenue was put into secret accounts of the GDR Foreign Trade Ministry or went to Western intermediaries. The regulations for blood deliveries often challenged the blood donation institutes; they lacked donors, modern techniques/equipment, and personal. Buyers in the West repeatedly complained about the quality of the blood products. The Western intermediaries sold the goods to bulk-buyers, predominantly in German-speaking countries.
以20世纪80年代德意志民主共和国（东德）的东西方血液贸易为例，本研究旨在说明与缺乏透明度且不向公众通报交易条件的独裁政权签订贸易协定会引发何种问题。来自卫生部和外贸部的档案显示了向东欧出口血液的规模、目的和范围。在东西方贸易中，血液仅仅被视为一种商品；伦理问题并未受到关注。血液贸易是东德卫生部门计划外外汇的最重要收入来源。人们被要求为社会福祉无偿献血。他们并不知道自己的血液是商业贸易的对象。大部分收入被存入东德外贸部的秘密账户或落入西方中间商手中。血液交付规定常常给献血机构带来挑战；它们缺乏献血者、现代技术/设备和人员。西方买家屡屡抱怨血液制品的质量。西方中间商将货物卖给主要是德语国家的大客户。
