Unsafe blood
published: Wednesday | April 23, 2003
UNSAFE BLOOD and blood shortages, according to the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) threatens the health of people who need blood transfusions in some countries of the Americas.
PAHO states that blood for transfusion is universally obtained from voluntary, unpaid donors in only a small proportion of countries and territories in the Americas. At the national level, only Aruba, Curacao, Cuba, Canada, and the United States, report 100 per cent voluntary donations. Only 16 countries eight in the English-speaking Caribbean, six in Latin America, and Canada and the United States report screening 100 per cent of donated units for HIV, HBV, and HCV.
Available data for the Americas, excluding Canada and the United States, indicate that 99 per cent of all units of blood collected are screened for HIV and Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) and 60 per cent for HCV. This means that, annually, around 50,000 units are transfused that have not been screened for HIV and HBV, and around 1,500,000 units are transfused that have not been screened for HCV.
Worldwide, according to a new World Health Organisation (WHO) report, unsafe transfusions and unclean injection practices each year cause an estimated 8 to 16 million hepatitis B virus infections, 2.3 to 4.7 million hepatitis C virus infections, and 80,000 to 160,000 HIV infections.
Dr. Lundie Richards, Director of the National Blood Transfusion Service indicates that Jamaica currently screens donated blood for HIV, HTLV1, Syphillis and Hepatitis B and C.
