Why blood donors are asked the birth country of the parents?

To find suitable blood for all those in need, the structure of the blood donor pool should match the structure of the population. However, the population structure in Finland has changed rapidly. The proportion of people with foreign backgrounds in our country has doubled in the last ten years. At the same time, there are relatively more people with rare blood types in our country.

By asking about the birth country of the parents, we aim to find blood donors with rare blood types.