Health care facilities transfuse the resulting 26.5  million components into about 4.5 million patients per year. Blood Suppliers’ Response to September 11 Attacks Has Focused Emergency Planning on Maintaining Adequate Inventory

The high volume of blood donations made immediately after September 11,  and the very small amount of blood needed to treat survivors, resulted in a  national surplus—supply was substantially greater than needed for  transfusions. Nationwide Blood Supply Can Likely Compensate for Donor Losses Resulting from New Policies

The overall growth in the U.S. blood supply in recent years and the  demonstrated ability of particular blood suppliers to increase collections  indicate that the blood industry as a whole can compensate for donor  losses from the new vCJD donor deferrals. Recent Blood Price Increases are Partly the Result of New Measures to Improve Blood Safety

Although blood is collected primarily from unpaid volunteers, blood banks  incur costs from collecting, processing, and testing donated blood. Furthermore, the average price of blood has risen  sharply since 1998.
What GAO Found

According to the American Association of Blood Banks, every year about 8 million individuals donate 14 million pints of blood, and 4.5 million patients receive life saving blood transfusions. The available data indicate that the blood supply has increased in the last 5 years and that growth has kept pace with the rise in demand. Blood suppliers received a high volume of blood donations immediately after the September 11 attacks. However, the small amount of blood needed to treat survivors of the attacks resulted in a nationwide surplus. The nation's blood supply can compensate for donors lost because of new donor restrictions designed to further reduce the risk of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease transmission. The average price of blood has risen over 50 percent since 1998. Although blood is primarily collected from volunteers, blood suppliers incur costs by collecting, processing, and testing donated blood.