Attitude and opinion of volunteer blood donors regarding access to eugenic

PURPOSE: The assessment of the attitude and views of blood donors in relation to eugenics. As well as the relation of eugenics to several demographical factors such as educational level, sex age and religious beliefs. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The subjects of study were 252 blood donors, who voluntarily gave blood and its byproducts in a Blood Donation Center in Athens. The data was collected through an anonymous questionnaire especially designed for the purpose of this study. RESULTS: The overwhelming majority of volunteer blood-donors agree in percentage greater than 50%, that society will probably never offer sufficient support to individuals with disabilities and that a woman should be submitted to prenatal control to determine if she medically advised in relation to her age and family background. 79% agrees that they would want to learn more about the moral questions that arise from the application of genetics to human. Independent variables that influence the attitude towards eugenics were found to be the importance of religion, the level of education, the sex and the number of children. Also, there was a connection of religion and the number of children with the knowledge of moral questions on genetics. CONCLUSIONS: Prenatal control should be carried out only when serious genetic illnesses or illnesses whose treatment is imperative to start early are expected. The attitude of citizens towards individuals with disabilities should change radically so that the biases and social stereotypes are raised. A better provision of information of the public on the moral questions that derive from the application of genetics to humans is also suggested.

Keywords: Eugenic, Prenatal diagnosis, Bioethics, Genetics