medical exclusion criteria

• You are aged under 16 or over 30.

• You weigh under 7st 12lbs (50kg) or are severely overweight (a BMI of more than 40). Download our maximum weight chart to check if you are eligible to donate.

• You (or your partner) are, or think you are, HIV or Human T-cell lymphotropic virus (HTLV) positive or believe you may carry the Hepatitis B or C virus.

• You don’t live in the UK.

• You have ever been injected with non-prescription drugs including body-building drugs (includes one off use).

• You have EVER had any of the following:

  • Cancer (including leukaemia)

  • Heart disease or heart surgery

  • Stroke

  • Epilepsy (unless you are seizure-free without medication for the last 12 months)

  • Any neurological condition

  • COPD including lung clots

  • Diabetes (unless this is controlled by diet alone)

  • Ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease

  • Sarcoidosis

  • Reiter’s syndrome

  • Autoimmune conditions including rheumatoid arthritis

  • Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)

  • Ankylosing spondylitis

  • Vasculitis

  • Sickle cell disease

  • Graves’ disease

  • Hashimoto’s thyroiditis

  • Pernicious anaemia

  • Myasthenia gravis

  • Schizophrenia

  • Haemophilia

  • Thalassaemia

  • Sciatica

  • Hepatitis or a positive blood test for hepatitis or HTLV

  • An allergy to latex or anaesthetic

Special note
If you're pregnant you can join the register, but you won't be made active until your baby is six months old (it will be longer if you're still breastfeeding).

Unable to join?
Please check the what you can do  section for other ways you can support our lifesaving work.