as today more countries issued travel warnings for china as the corona virus continues to spread the united states and japan are among those urging citizens to avoid trips to the country this is the w.h.o. declares the outbreak of a global health emergency and as francs a day brussels getting ready to say goodbye to the u.k. britain will formally leave the european union at midnight central european time. i'm brian thomas that's it for me have a great weekend and we'll see you again next. it's all happening coach of the african to. join linked news from africa the world story link to exception the stories and discussions can you and will constitute abuse african program tonight from funny journey from one user fees each hour i would say deputed construction africa join us on facebook t.w.

africa. ok it's a deal one person's health is traded in exchange for another's. medical he scares me that this is my only steady income. i don't tell them at the border what you're planning to do or they might arrest you . as always we're about to sell our blood plasma. the united states exports blood plasma as a raw material one market germany. in the past month without plasma would be no medicine for us. to use is the us mexican border. the world's most committed plasma

donors are mexicans that's a dog tribe i.z. to stop donating past money in the black. european and global pharmaceutical companies are conducting transactions bordering on the illegal. strongly encourage people to not use their document for that capacity. this is a film about people who save lives and about the risks that they are exposed to. come. to mean it's true. for all. to. see. and his daughter here in assists are on their way to the

border from sued out juarez in mexico to el paso in the united states. with this comic but you know it's a normal day but today i'm feeling even worse than usual donating plasma wears me out i'm tired all the time and i barely manage to lift even light things you know at the office because my it of. running a little is indoors or is little i'm not proud of being a donor. but we do whatever it takes to make ends meet. but when this woman says that is what to do i must. get my hero and his daughter go there twice a week in spite of physical warning signs pharmaceutical companies lure them to the united states by offering dollars they accept donors with a visitor visa. but kinesis can feel that there's something wrong so a little cat or some border officials don't. but you through no or take away your

visa when you say you're going to donate plasma that you can see that makes me panic and it's very risky it's as boring as it was. if i got one. thing. it's a trade at the borders of law and health but the father and his daughter are not the only ones our research shows that every week at least $10000.00 mexicans travel to the united states to sell their plasma. after donating they return to mexico. they leave their bandages in the u.s. to avoid attracting attention from border officials. and what if i used the money to pay for university. and transport to travel expenses counseling to get to university tuition fees. they're just tired but my pension is very small and i

still donate past my because it helps me get by going on we've got them here. donors need the money patients need the medicines made from donors blood. patients like looks at the opposite end of the supply chain some 1000 kilometers away every 3 days he undergoes the same procedure the infusion of plasma proteins take several hours for her mom i mean before i got infections all the time my life consisted of restrictions and sacrifices. or maybe when i started taking the medicine i got better i could live my life again and enjoyed the man means. this change was only possible after looks was diagnosed with immunodeficiency he doesn't have enough antibodies. to give his body what it lacks he gets the infusions from the gun feeling mentioned i get antibodies from

a lot of people. take the medicine these antibodies help boost my immune system and make me feel better i think i'm go but. it's not just patients with immune deficiencies who need these medicines doctors use them during operations for example to compensate for severe blood loss the medicines are also used to prevent hepatitis or rabies infections. in some situations we depend on plasma products to save patients' lives yes but with complete of us might need a plasma product at some point in our lives the probability is almost 100 percent goes up and we were to get in. europe can't find enough donors the united states on the other hand can the us is the world's largest supplier of blood plasma there are more than 800 donation centers in the country donors are allowed to give plasma up to $104.00 times a year that's almost twice as often as

a lot in germany. the u.s. exports the commodity worldwide europe is the main consumer having used 18800000 liters in 2017 the medicines are then sold worldwide. in germany alone 6000000 liters of u.s. plasma were made into medicine this last year. the 43 donation centers that the u.s. mexican border are the most productive in america they're mainly owned by the australian based company c.s.l. which has a german subsidiary c.s.l. bearing the spanish company gree falls and smaller entities such as p.p.l. which supplies the u.k. with plasma. that the company is currently building 2 new centers. all of these companies declined requests for interviews. but during our yearlong investigation we spoke to dozens of former and current employees from phlebotomists right up to managers some let us record their interviews or allowed us to quote

them. the c.s.l. senators that are right on the border i would like to say i'm pretty confident saying 100 percent but let's say 99 percent of the donors cross from mexico. so. these companies sat right next to the border because they know the locals need money they take advantage of that this was a push from. donors are paid and eligible for extra bonuses the companies use flyers radio spots and videos on social media to target their market lighting it in the month you can recruit as many friends for donations as you like the more frenzy recruit the more money you can earn donating plasma is an easy way to earn up to $400.00 a month as a new doctor while saving lives. that's right returning donors also see monthly bonus payouts i get points. only donors who give it the maximum

frequency allowed by u.s. regulators receive the full payment from mexican donors it's the equivalent of a small fortune but the payment is never referred to as such but we me when i 1st started it was that we accept donations of part and we compensate people based on their time here because if we said that we bought it from the individual that's a form of prostitution it made me. how much of a gray area are we operating in that we can even though we're giving you money. only grief provided us with a written response it says donors receive compensation for their time and their commitment as returning donors. for the company's business at the border pays off. we gained access to internal documents from great falls that show that a center in the united states gets an average of $164.00 donations per day. the

centers at the border more than double that amount the most successful center in el paso registers more than $600.00 donors a day and this is the record breaking center run by a group falls most of the donors are mexicans but despite the large number of donors there is no public awareness about the blood plasma business at the border. we asked officials in mexico city the response was surprise the country band paid plasma donation in 1987 and all associated advertising. corner is the national council for self regulation and advertising ethics. that is in mexico it's illegal to sell one's blood no one is allowed to advertise a product that they're not allowed to sell us.

this morning on the outskirts of ciudad water is a city ravaged by mexico's drug war 44 year old guy runs a gym here he needs to earn enough to provide for himself and his youngest daughter . billboard in all of this i always donate on wednesdays and on fridays or you have all of that today i'm going to donate with him he says. so they pay you right away so yeah we get paid for every donation so they give you a debit card and then you go to an a.t.m. with it. they transfer money to the card too but yes when you're finished donating the money is on your card and. the companies call it the compensation it amounts to 4 times what earns from his gym. for the moment than any other kid my little girl needs food toys fruit. thanks to the plasma i can pay for all these things. the modern lot of those 1000

u.s. dollars are worth a lot here most everyone at the end of the day you're doing a good deed saving lives or to go with the tools i was you know. you need to know you're. a few kilometers away 21 year old here this is using the plasma money to pay her tuition fees luckily i'm studying to become a paramedic my job will be to look after patients on their way to the hospital. keep us but once something better i want to earn good money so that i can stop going to el paso. maybe to go shopping instead of going to this place now i'm a patient myself in the future i will take care of patients. as a trainer earns $100.00 a month but cost of living statistics show a $150.00 are needed per person per month to cover the bare necessities to secure

an extra bonus tries to win over his client says donors as well. it's very interesting very tempting. there. the reason i'm hesitant is the question what are the side effects what is the. plasma is a blood component. the yellow liquid only becomes visible when separated from the rest of the blood it contains valuable proteins immunoglobulins for example which protect against infections the plasma donation is different from a blood donation plasma is filtered from the blood and the other blood components are returned to the donor. class. and the plasma is extracted. provided to the plasma company and made into medicines i mean . these are sold in pharmacies which is where i pick them up or if.

the practice of paying daughters is legal in germany but compensation sums of up to $25.00 euros are comparatively small. giving plasma isn't a problem as long as the donor undergoes a federal health check. standards in the united states in germany differ greatly. when so this is just a plus most in principle plasma donations in the us are also regulated and supervised by the author orators of all but tests of plasma protein levels are undertaken far less frequently than in germany and germany it's done a head of every 5th donation in the us it started every 4 months. within 4 months the donor might have donated plasma up to $34.00 times without a single check on their level of critical plasma protein. you know. this can lead to deficiency symptoms in us dollars says professor hirsch dan he conducted one of the few studies on the effects of long term plasma donation. for

us the donor doesn't notice this decline in his protein levels would match the tricky things to the lower the immunoglobulin g. level the higher the risk of illnesses like pneumonia meningitis or urinary tract infections. if you can hold and so i'm going to be it's infected and then you can die from that because it is a very serious infection. in the us less frequent health checks translate into a higher risk for donors in boards under german law every plasma donation has to be coupled with a donor risk and health assessment. in the toe of forked. another regulation that doesn't exist in the united states instead of the mandatory presence of a doctor physicians only need to be on call 9 of them have on site doctors and depending on those that you work at. your doctor might calm

once a week for 4 hours which is the minimum that they're required to. many donors in the us have been giving plasma for decades with no adverse side effects. others suffer immediate symptoms. but continue donating anyway. some of my arms and legs go numb my vision turns black as if i'm about to faint i get migraines and that's usually how i feel about this one of us and. that was sometimes staffel than tast if you're still reacting but that's all they don't really pay a lot of attention to the people donating. the money they give me a rap a while but nothing more. to some sinister

talking i feel like a guinea pig and like livestock but i am a more like a commodity than a patient or a donor there in. chaos and don't want to. before so it's more about numbers and i would compare it like a factory tape sighting. although the majority of the people i work at telecoms aren't malicious and they don't home with malintent they know that if this donor didn't state specifically that they passed out and we just say oh she just had her eyes closed and that they would have to look into it and snatched. p.p.t.a. is the trade organization that represents plasma producing pharmaceutical companies it's former president john bolt is visiting labs at the us mexican border.

i have nothing than good words to say about dissenters that i have seen on the border sometimes. dealing with mexican donors. many mexicans cross the border on a temporary b. one b. 2 visa it allows for visits to the united states provided applicants supply the necessary documentation. one of the requirements is people do need to establish the fact that they have a reason to return to mexico that they have a home or a life something like that there that they're not just using it to come into the country and add to the u.s. population in them in a legal manner. under the trump administration border officers are focused on catching those entering the country illegally. but they usually try to slip in beneath the border bridges. the placement owners arrive the official way

holders of a valid visa are issued a border crossing card and are allowed to pass through. in order for a mexican doing to cross the border they need to have a u.s. visa the u.s. fisa is supplied by the u.s. . government on a couple of conditions for that and they go and then donate the plaza. with this piece a mexican's register at the u.s. donation centers upon entering the country they're checked by u.s. customs and border protection officers. people using a b. one b. to b. search or cross the border and earn money selling plans but they could put that document at risk. and by that. because the b. one b. 2 visa is not a document that allows someone to work or live in the united states simply a document that allows them to enter for other reasons so the pattern offended say it's not right it's a cop and they say i wore it i want to play the victim on the net. but it's your

business and. you know people are being compensated they're being paid. to i each week thousands of donors are paid by these centers apparently nobody has ever asked whether it's legal for mexican donors to be paid in the u.s. . the p.p.t.a. says plasma donors are not employees of donation centers. the u.s. state department issues their visa and confirms. generally an exchange of goods or services for remuneration in the united states is found to be inconsistent with permissible activities on a b. one b. 2 visa. technically under the trump administration there are strict rules for entering the country but plasma donors have been managing to get through for years b.p. all declined our request for a response c.s.l. in great falls wrote see ourselves plasma complies with all laws in the countries

in which we operate. all donors regardless of where they come from must comply with all necessary health regulatory and legal requirements to donate there are no exceptions. some employees of donation centers offer precautionary advice. i told them at the border don't say you're coming to the next or you might lose your visa. i do know for you that we've. all just don't hope you're coming to delhi tone or coming to your aunt's house or your cousin's house or you're going for whatever reason to the mall . it's the donors who carry the risk though they're largely unaware of the possible consequences. they went in the uk and more senior my understanding is that it isn't illegal but if you fall into the hands of an ill tempered officer

they can take away your visa because they like it was so you better not say where you're crossing the border. but i cannot. believe look at what i always tell them i'm visiting my aunt who lives in the city center. but if you carrying anything a water bottle in my id. what do you do for a living to have another worker jim and an assembly plant. ok take care of. 6. s. . w. o. has been crossing for 9 years kinesis for 3 most of the blood plasma donated in the us is exported to europe the us and europe are the biggest global markets for plasma medicines. paula stringer is the head of an association of plasma producers that advocates unpaid donations unlike the p.p.t.a. we should be very happy that's in the united states so much past most collected

because we need to plan for the patients who are in need for the products however if you are becoming very dependent on one country and there is a monopoly then you see that the balance is not ok. leo test is one of several plasma processing companies in germany it makes medicine out of frozen blood plasma . in nearby marburg c.s.l. bearing process is blood plasma including from supplies harvested in the u.s. revenue in germany amounts to 2000000000 euros the firm grief owes distributes the medicines in germany with sales of some 280000000 euros it also operates the commercial blood donation chain amah. demand for blood plasma is growing more and more donation centers are opening in the united states in germany the number of donations has been stagnant for years. many european countries now rely on us

plasma germany is on course to such dependency experts are concerned. when there is an disaster in the past for supply united states for example because a new attitude is being detected as we cannot be inactivated then the whole passed by industry will collapse and europe will be. absolutely defective of that situation. 2 hours later each donor earned $40.00 today in return for $800.00 milliliters almost a leader of blood plasma. donors are weighed before every donation had been found i mean i weighed one pound 2 little islam is the minimum way to stiff a kilo's i tried to make myself heavier with my backpack but it wasn't enough and. messy until more or less i'm so mad i didn't even have my health to sell today and

i think that. for the 1st visit with all the bells although it's like suddenly being unable to go to work and losing your source of income. this was an ok i'm trading my health for many others apparently need the help of us donors more that's all right but what price are we paying. in fact it would be easy to protect donors even beyond national borders. the german city of gurlitz on the polish border offers a case in point crossing one of the border bridges on foot takes just a few minutes on the german side there's a plasma center run by the same company that dominates the collection market at the u.s. mexican border grief holds the owner of germany's him

a donation centers. plasma donor tourism exists here as well. donors are paid 22 year as compensation because one of them said she got over coffee this morning i told my wife i'm heading over to gurlitz to donate prize for the final run a few errands here in town pick up some things in the drugstore. the kids are taking it here donating plasma isn't a matter of survival it's a way to earn a little extra income in your clothes or both of you but with some donors you can tell they come here a lot. they're not getting their livelihood here but it is a small cash boost. in lots of. after 4 visits donors are examined to determine whether they have enough antibodies to give plasma a 5th time. in the u.s. there's a greater willingness to take risks both on the part of pharmaceutical companies

because the law lets them and on the part of donors because they are poor. i would say. a large number of them are probably have some kind of condition or something. they're maybe just not telling you about. donors often don't mention preexisting conditions they also receive little information about the possible long term effects of giving plasma this willingness to take risks is based on ignorance and it begins with center employees. the company actually education bureau about the long term how they really don't even you as an employee they don't tell you hey this is what might potentially happen with any of your donors whether good or bad. the pharmaceutical companies declined to comment on specific allegations. donna does not know what their long short term or long term

side effects are you i have a responsibility in medicine and this medicine all act in order to to be ethical and to treat heart. kinesis in gumma you know want to know if donating is affecting their health since the donation centers won't tell them we arrange a medical checkup based on the studies conducted by professor. the check up at the lever turi in ciudad juarez is far more detailed than those carried out in u.s. donation centers. they're a fast test determines the amount of protein in the blood there isn't even a minimum value for the antibodies. you know we're both allowed to donate this week . if you find

i've always felt healthy since i started donating. and i can feel that i'm not in a good state of health i think they're going to confirm that. i just hope that i don't have an advanced condition we cook is nothing more. that be enough. on its own that was. coming. along this is because when i have you ever felt bad and i think i mean in your chest trembling lips stiffness in your hands or legs that's big enough to see yeah that happens about twice a month and twice a month. so you know i also keep coming down with the flu i'm always having to take something how often approximately in. the last time was

a month ago and it's coming back now. and look i mean it's. a 4.7 kilos. 48.2 kilos in clothes. sometimes i don't see myself the way i am sometimes i think i'm too thin. other times i think i'm too fat. to marry him with water.

it was like and i like putting on clothes like these i love them i like seeing them and touching them to my walls and it doesn't hurt anybody and it feels very healthy to me. and it distracts me. waiting for the results. i. think that the welcome to have to pay my college exam fees soon to how much is it. they think it's $140.00 that's expensive.

my brother fell victim to organized crime he was executed. according to the autopsy he was tortured 1st and then buried in the yard of some house after he was 28 years old. so i'd rather see hennesey just donate plasma than sell her body or smuggle drugs into the united states. is a bit less risky. because your results. if you look at it and it does your immunoglobulin level which we can see here is about $200.00 milligrams below the limit and. if i get sick so often. yes you probably got it from the norm by a lot of these guys your total protein level is

a bit too low as well this is definitely a consequence of your frequent past donations and that you and a modified ones that. eat. these are your results look at your immunoglobulin g. level is also below that limit just slightly. but this is my advice to you as a doctor is to stop donating for at least 6 months and i may not. what is his message as they say it's very unlikely that you will recover if you carry on donating at this rate and as he could face more serious consequences with increasingly serious infections bronchitis for example or new monia because your body's defenses are too weak and says you know because i know you when you are in better health but i still recommend you reduce the frequency of your donations you

currently do $98.00 times per month i would recommend a maximum of 5. days or whatever on the one hand i'm relieved that i'm not sick. on the other hand it appears and pretty vulnerable. given that also i'm worried. about your health that's the focus of. me had to stop donating would be a luxury i can't afford. that's why. i listen i feel it's very important that everything is ethically sound. that there are no short comings and people are not treated in ways that hurt them. as in flesh

. when we show him our footage from the us mexican border the 59 year old can hardly believe it. there is some truth in that this is of course totally unacceptable and shouldn't be allowed to happen. just about to donors really should be taken better care of for this woman sake and for the sake of others who don't i wish i would wish to see a different ethical approach one that's more humane a mensch put into. the father and daughter are not isolated cases studies have shown huge differences between american and european donors. spend on a considerable number of u.s. donors who we started also fell below the threshold values that apply in germany. we discovered that if you pull the plasma off the different groups that the argy

level in the page the donation group from the us was much lower and we can only find as a reason that the frequency of the nation was playing a role here. different standards apply in the us and they can carry a heightened risk to donors health that's something that could be of concern to german officials who inspect donor centers in the u.s. . officials in the state it hasn't for example from the darmstadt regional council . they inspect all centers that export plasma to hasn't. german medical association guidelines are not applicable to inspections in the us. german standards are not relevant here the polar bear lake institute also monitors u.s. donation centers by order of the federal ministry of health in all the cases where the plasma is destined for the german or european market. name

for we make on site visits we look at how donors that treated and selected we look at the quality of traceability systems the relevant e.u. regulations. here the fees are all important aspects that are inspected on site. but german inspectors aren't interested in the protection of donors but rather for the protection of recipients things not relevant to recipients are not subject to review in all other cases german officials refer to us jurisdiction and this is results have given her a clear picture we show them to the paul institute. in our view in the case of the female donor the results do not comply with the threshold values which means her donations would not be purchased or exempt and here. in germany would not have been allowed to donate but that doesn't stop her plasma from entering the german market this creates a double standard when the benefits the pharmaceutical companies the p.p.t.a.

maintains that american laws are being observed and says donors do not even give plasma that frequently. in the united states legally you're allowed to donate twice a week which theoretically could mean they're doing a good girl 800 times a year away for when we look at their average years and we see every stone or about 17 times a year. but there are big differences between the national average and the centers of the border we've received an internal grief document that shows the majority of high frequency donors go to centers at the border. and this is single male in. donate about $100.00 times a year. it's been 3 days since they got their test results. it looks. like after what the doctor said i'll try to stop donating as soon as possible. i'm still healthy and i want things to stay that way. but i'm extremely

worried about yours about how it's damaging you this is the victim of the. principle i don't think you should continue donating. i think it was you this is a way for that i can't stop it's my only source of income. you have so much you're young you're strong you're smart how are you doing. i mean fine. your results tell a different story for those. who used to have nothing to eat now you're lecturing me about my health. that's not what this is about stop exaggerating you're not the victim here. to impose there's always a solution ok. ok. you better not say any more.

it blows my plasma business is not the most honest one if they should tell the donors what could happen to them and often if i know you know they should take better care of us they would say it. was. brussels february 2019. the european union weighs in on the block's dependence on plasma from the us. a group of delegates urges the commission to take action. well we import about 40 percent from the united states why because we do not have enough. material here to work on so what we need is more. plasma donation. but the problem in europe is that there are neither enough centers nor donors and the donors who do come don't come often enough. frenchman's i've had a smash and i wish people would donate more so the conditions would improve. if

conditions there were adjusted and raised to match those in europe and there was a unified standard then donors over there would feel that they were valued. they actually. can brussels do anything to protect donors. the e.u. sets the rules for plasma imports the laws are being reviewed says the german health ministry without being more specific. aligning standards is a topic that might be discussed. insiders would welcome such discussions in the us too. i think we can expect to milk our dollars for as much hard moves we can dad of them and then not talk about any potential negative effects that they might have. but no one feels like it's their responsibility to initiate this conversation much less raise ethical concerns. this is it's not subject to

a regulator a control the ethical approach so to speak. form . insists on the if and when i dress up in costumes i like the way i look. then i feel good and of. course all know of your it's not a morally correct business. in the way obama has long as there's a buyer there's a seller. we're just trading our health for dollars. and i have no choice.

to the point of strong opinions clear positions international perspective such. as be marking the 75th anniversary of the liberation of the stars part of the lessons of the whole of cool. and given the resurgence of anti-semitism in germany and elsewhere could oh sure it's something you can find out on so the point

schumacher to the point. of the team in the us on t.w. . earth home to millions of species the home worth saving. google tells stories of creative people and innovative projects around the world like deals that protect the climate boost clean energy solutions and reforestation . using interactive content to inspire people to take action global audience the series of global 3000 on t.w. and online. this is it breaks it is really happening great britain is leaving the european union just 3 years of tough negotiations deeply divided country. much more for future generations from a. time to say good bye our

briggs's special edition. on the tell me. place. continues to spread and more countries warn against. the u.s. as one of the latest countries to tell its citizens. 10000 people. the world health organization has declared. a global emergency.