In articles on the Internet, there are estimates that tens of thousands of Witnesses have died because of refusal of whole blood or blood components. All estimates I have seen have been guesses not based on concrete statistics. As far as Norway is concerned, there are concrete statistics, and by applying these statistics to countries with the same medical standard, we may get an approximate number of deaths for refusing red blood cells, white blood cells, platlets, or blood plasma.
I would like to stress the importance of the blood components for the treatment of severe hemmorrhage. If these components were allowed, there would be no deaths due to lack of blood.
People who are terminally ill may prolong their lives by taking full blood or certain blood components. Such persons are not included in my statistics. The statistics include persons who get a sudden severe hemorrhage or are having surgery, and who have lost so much blood that they need full blood or blood components to continue to live.
My statistics is based on the situation in Norway between 1990 and 2010. During these years, I served on the Hospital Liaison Committee in Oslo. We met once a month, and at these meetings we monitored the situation across the country. This meant we knew the situation across Norway among Witnesses who refused blood and blood components.
The approximate number of inhabitants in Norway during the 20 years between 1990 and 2010 was 4.5 million, and there were 2 Witnesses who died but could have survived if they had received blood components.
As a basis for my statistics, I assume that the countries of Europe, as well as the USA and Canada, have the same medical standard as Norway, and I compare these countries with Norway. The approximate number of inhabitants in these countries during the 20 years was 1000 million. When 2 persons per 4.5 million died in Norway during a period of 20 years, it means that 444 persons died per 1.000 million during 20 years. This means that during 21st century, 577 Jehovah’s Witnesses died because they refused blood components.
THE STATISTICS SHOW THAT DURING THE 21st CENTURY, 577 JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES DIED BECAUSE THEY REFUSED TO ACCEPT EITHER RED BLOOD CELLS, WHITE BLOOD CELLS, PLATELETS, OR BLOOD COMPONENTS
If we extrapolate these statistics that include the countries in Europe, the USA, and Canada, to the rest of the world with approximately 6 billion people during the mentioned 20 years, this would mean that 3.462 persons had died. This would not be correct because many countries do not have the same medical standards as Norway, and the number of Witnesses in many of these countries is much lower than in Europe, the USA, and Canada.
That only 444 Witnesses died because of the lack of blood components during the period of 20 years seems to be extremely low. As a member of the Hospital Liaison Committee in Oslo for 20 years, I have been present in 200+ situations with serious hemorrhage in connection with accidents or operations, and I have seen the use of all the alternatives to blood and blood components. So, the number of 577 deaths corroborates my experience.
