What rights do blood donors have in Serbia?
An employed donor has the right to two paid days off for every donation. Whoever has given blood ten times or more pays no co-payment for health care, and whoever has given fewer times pays none for a year after each donation. The Red Cross also gives awards for round numbers of donations.
Days off
The Labour Law, article 77, gives an employee paid leave of two consecutive days for every voluntary blood donation, the day of the donation included. These days come on top of the five days of paid leave the law gives for other occasions, and are paid at the average pay of the previous 12 months. The right is claimed with the voluntary blood donor's booklet.
Co-payment
Under the Health Insurance Law, article 137, no co-payment is paid by:
- voluntary donors who have given blood ten times or more;
- voluntary donors who have given blood fewer than ten times, for 12 months after each donation.
The rule is the same for men and women. It does not cover medicines on the List of Medicines or medical devices. It covers the rest: doctor's visits, laboratory tests, scans, hospital treatment and the other services ITKS and ZTK Niš list.
Awards
The Red Cross gives awards for the 1st, 5th, 10th, 20th, 35th, 50th, 75th and 100th donation. They are handed over around 11 May, the National Day of Voluntary Blood Donors, and 14 June, World Blood Donor Day.
And a check-up
Before every donation a doctor checks your haemoglobin, blood pressure and pulse, and your blood is tested. If a result is out of the normal range, the service is required by law to tell you. But blood is not given to check your health: if you think you may have been at risk of an infection, get tested elsewhere.
How many times you have given
You can write your donations down in the app, on the Donations screen. They stay on your phone and in your account, and the app also says when you can give again.