Charity wants more blood plasma from donors, energy minister under renewed scrutiny, RSV vaccine brought forward and more news from Denmark this Tuesday.
Denmark short on blood plasma from donors
Danish donors provide only half the blood plasma needed for life-saving procedures, with the rest having to be imported, organisation Bloddonorerne Danmark (Blood Donation Denmark) said.
The organisation, which represents around 180,000 blood and plasma donors, said a further 26,000 plasma donors are needed if the country is to become self-sufficient, a stated target for health authorities.
Plasma is a yellowish fluid that makes up about half of the blood and is used to produce plasma-based medicines, including immunoglobulin.
It is vital for treatment of cancer patients and people with serious immune system disorders.
Energy minister under renewed pressure over withheld information
Climate, Energy and Utilities minister Lars Aagaard, faces another parliamentary hearing over withheld information on delays in expanding Denmark’s electricity grid, media Finans reports.
The issue is a serious one for Aagaard, who narrowly survived a vote of no confidence over it in parliament earlier this year.
Senior officials in Aagaard’s ministry sat for months on knowledge of the scale of the delays despite several parties in parliament having requested the information according to Finans, which cites internal meeting minutes and memos obtained through freedom of information requests.
Aagaard will appear before parliament’s energy committee again on Tuesday to answer questions about the matter and may need to make the case that he did not mislead parliament.
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RSV vaccine option to be brought forward
A vaccination programme against RSV for pregnant women will begin this autumn instead of in 2026, the Health Ministry has confirmed in a statement.
When announcing the decision as part of the proposed budget last month, the government said it wants all pregnant women to be offered a free RSV vaccine that passes antibodies on to their unborn children.
The offer of vaccination was to come into effect from next year, but has now been brought forward and is expected to begin from October.
Pregnant women will be offered the vaccine during their GP appointment in the 32nd week of pregnancy and can receive it up to week 36.
The proposed budget allocates 35.9 million kroner in 2026 and 40.2 million kroner annually from 2027 onwards for the programme. Bringing it forward is expected to cost an additional 18.9 million kroner.
Infants can be more at risk from the virus, which is a common respiratory infection.
Around 1,500 babies under six months are admitted to hospital in Denmark every year with RS virus.
Asylum applications to the EU fall by 23 percent
Asylum applications to the European Union, Switzerland and Norway fell by 23 percent in the first six months of 2025, driven by a massive drop in Syrians seeking protection, the EU’s asylum agency said yesterday.
Data from the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA) showed Syrians lodged around 25,000 requests in the 27-nation bloc plus Switzerland and Norway (EU+), down 66 percent on the same period last year.
“This remarkable reduction is hardly due to policy changes in the EU+,” EUAA said in a report, crediting instead the ouster of long-time Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad.