Weak E. German Mark Drains Blood Banks
The earning power of the West German mark, largely blamed for East Germany’s wave of emigration, is now draining its blood banks.
East Berlin’s 28 hospitals were short 3,000 blood donations at the end of January because about 500 regular donors had begun selling their blood to hospitals in West Berlin for West German marks, the official news agency ADN said.
The West German Red Cross paid $27 for each donation in West Berlin. In East Berlin, hospitals paid $29 in East German marks, but the East mark in reality is virtually worthless in the West.
“It’s definitely very seductive (West German mark payments), but this blood is really needed in our own hospitals,” ADN quoted Henn Roigas, senior medical officer for East Berlin’s blood donation and transfusion institute, as saying.
East Germany’s hospitals are also desperately short of qualified personnel such as nurses because of the continuing emigration, causing serious breakdowns in availability and quality of medical care.
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