I guess the need for blood can't be that dire, given how many groups they exclude. I mean, I can't give cuz I've had sex with a man, ever (never mind that it was always with protection). Also because I'm tattooed (always done sterile). And because I'm pierced (also done sterile).

I mean, with 40% (or whatever that recent statistic was) of 18-30 year olds having tattoos, just how many people are they willing to rule out?!?!

Mind you that there is no known case of HIV transmitted via tattooing or piercing, and exceedingly few such-caused cases of Hep C.

On the positive side (no pun intended) my husband has donated blood in Switzerland. He also has over 150 donations in Australia. He used to do plasma donations (they take the blood out, spin it, get the clear liquid out and give you back most of the 'red' stuff)...pretty cool !

After many many donations, only once did they send him away without taking his blood because his iron levels had dropped a bit...

Me, on the other hand, have been unable to donate due to pregnancy, breastfeeding (three children) and my iron levels are chronically low for an undetermined reason (iron supplementation makes no difference but I still have normal red blood cells)...so I consider my husband donates for all of us.

And personally, i'd rather not risk CJD from a donated blood sample. As others have said, they always have options when the blood supply runs low - my friend was in a very nasty car accident and they actually phoned a series of donors in who came to the hospital and gave blood in the middle of the night to keep her alive...that was also in Australia...

This is another option if you want to do you bit but can't donate blood here: Stem cell donation
Chances that they'll call you up are pretty small, and it's a bit more invasive than normal blood donation but they can often take peripheral stem cells(instead of needing to take bone marrow from your hip) now which is more or less like a normal blood donation, just with a couple of growth factor injections a few days before. They can also use umbilical cord blood if you happen to be pregnant.

There is heaps of info on the website and the database is worldwide so who knows who you could end up helping.

Don't feel bad - I was in the service in Korea in 1999 and in Iraq in 2004-5. Same thing - they don't want my blood!

I seem to have low iron levels no matter what I do, after my initial test of iron levels being 132, I took iron supplements for 4 months and it jumped to a whopping 133. Despite being a bit above the limit, I'm pretty skinny, so they were hesitant about taking my blood. But I insisted on doing it and O+ is a sought after blood type, so after a few tests they let me. The people at the Geneva hospital are champs, they took good care of me. I felt a bit lightheaded and had trouble walking after giving blood, so they looked after me for an hour, did tests, brought me anything I wanted, and even gave me a letter for work. (Even offered to give me permission for the entire day off, but I felt that was one step too far)

Still, some of the rules they have are ridiculous, as per OP. My girlfriend regularly traveled to the UK when she was young, and because it happens to amount to over 6 months, she can't give blood.