Virus survivors rake in cash for plasma on Iraq’s black market
Recovered coronavirus patients in Iraq are selling their blood plasma for $2,000 per liter on the black market as health leaders watch in dismay.
For five days, Qusay al-Zaidi searched for a recovered coronavirus patient to give him plasma for use in the treatment of his relatives who had contracted the virus. He expected to get it from a volunteer free of charge, but this was not the case.
“The recovered patient asked for $1,500 per liter and refused to negotiate the price,” he told Al-Monitor.
Zaidi had no choice but to buy the plasma, but perhaps too late. His relative died on July 8 in Baghdad.
The Blood plasma trade in the Iraqi black market has flourished in recent weeks, with the daily number of confirmed COVID-19 cases exceeding 2,000 per day. Hospitals are packed with patients and other facilities have been turned into quarantine centers.
