Blood around the world




The frequency of the four main groups O, A, B and AB varies in populations throughout the world. In the UK, although not in every case, the rarer blood groups are often found in donors with similar ethnic backgrounds. For example, in the UK, over all just 10% of the population are B group. Yet in people from an Asian background, 25% have this blood group. Many people with rare blood groups or suffering from conditions which require regular blood such as thalassaemia, leukaemia and those undergoing chemotherapy for cancer, need closely matched blood. If they have a rarer group, we do sometimes struggle to get a perfect match for them.

Sufferers of Beta Thalassaemia Major, are 100% dependent on donors - without them, they wouldn't be alive. But they need the right match, which means blood donated by people with rarer blood groups, found in donors from similar ethnic backgrounds. We are only too aware that blood donors do not, at present, reflect Britons rich multicultural population.

Where did these different blood groups come from? In the same way that people, cultures and languages change from country to country, so do blood groups. This means that some types are more common in certain ethnic and national groups and, despite the fact these groups become more mixed as people move around the globe, it's still possible to see how blood groups differ from population to population.

The O group is the oldest of the blood groups. Back in the Stone Age, everyone would have been O - and today it's still the most common group in the UK, especially in the North of England. Over in Central and South America and the USA most people are O too. The fact that anyone can receive O blood reflects the fact that all other blood groups are derived from it.

Group A is the second oldest blood group, appearing around 25,000 - 15,000BC, when larger human settlements first appeared as farming developed. You'll find a lot of A in Central and Eastern Europe. It's the commonest group in Norway, Denmark, Austria, Armenia and Japan.

If you're looking for group B, then try the Asian communities, where around a quarter of all people share this blood group. It emerged between 15,000 and 10,000BC as tribes migrated from Africa to Europe, Asia and the Americas and mingled with other populations.

The newest and rarest group, AB, only appeared between 1000 and 500 years ago, and is believed to have occurred as a response to the mixing of existing blood groups on a major scale. In Japan, China and Pakistan around 10% of the population boast this rarest of blood groups. Amazing!

OneBlood

Four short animated films were screened on Channel 4 as part of the OneBlood campaign. Each of the films has it's own unique style and approach to the subject of blood donation and looks at the issue across different ethnic backgrounds.

Whats blood got to do with it?
An irreverent and entertaining romp through the history of the uses and misuses of blood, from ancient times through to the present day. Narrated by refreshingly absurd comedian Alexei Sayle.
View programme 56k  Broadband

Leona Alone
This frank and emotive documentary chronicles the experiences of Leona, a black girl born with Sickle Cell Disease. Now a teenager, she candidly describes the regular stream of hospital visits, sickle cell crises and blood transfusions that have become the fabric of her life.
View programme 56k  Broadband

Blood Sutra
A comic treatise debunking some of the myths surrounding blood donation, from a British-Asian perspective. Using Bollywood soundtracks and techno-tantric animation, this humorous piece exposes the characters and caricatures that make up some of the ingrained misconceptions of blood donation amongst the South Asian community.
View programme 56k  Broadband

The Circle
A young Chinese woman tells the story of her determination to overcome family fears and objections to become a regular blood donor. Using live footage, animation and photographs the filmmaker juxtaposes the importance of an ancient heritage and respect for the family with a contemporary Chinese perspective.
View programme 56k  Broadband

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