Promoting quality blood services in the Region of the Americas

ABSTRACT

Over the past several years, great progress has been made in the safety of blood transfusion available in the Region of the Americas. The screening of blood units for infectious markers has increased. Of the 5.9 million units of blood collected in Latin America and the Caribbean in 1997, 68 1666 (1.1 percent) were not screened for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV); 77 095 (1.3 percent) for hepatitis B, and 343 858 (5.8 percent) for hepatitis C. The corresponding figures for 2001 are 6338 (0.09 percent) for HIV, 8797 (0.13 percent) for hepatitis B, and 60 112 (0.88 percent) for hepatitis C, despite the fact that the number of units collected that year had increased to 6.8 million. The units not screened for HIV came from five countries, two of which test over 99 percent of the blood collected and another two at least 85 percent. Sixteen countries do not have universal screening for hepatitis C. Of these, five do not test for hepatitis C at all. The quality of screening also appears to have improved in the Region. Training activities, development of standard operating procedures, implementation of quality standards, and the use of appropriate testing kits contribute to better laboratory performance. Nevertheless, there are still many challenges ahead in terms of achieving desired levels of safety and availability of blood (AU)