CD46/16 - Progress Report on the Regional Initiative for Blood Safety and Plan of Action for 2006-2010

The Strategic and Programmatic Orientations of the Pan American Health Organization for 1999-2002, approved by the 25th Pan American Sanitary Conference, included the goals that (a) all blood for transfusion will be analyzed to detect infections by hepatitis B and C viruses, syphilis, Trypanosoma cruzi, and HIV, and (b) all blood banks will be participating in quality control programs as means to increase the safety of blood. 

A Regional Plan of Action for 2000-2004 reiterated those goals. Despite progress, universal screening of blood for transfusion and participation of blood banks in quality programs has not been achieved. By 2003, the estimated risk of receiving a transfusion contaminated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B (HBV), or hepatitis C (HCV) due to the lack of screening in the Caribbean and Latin American countries diminished to 1:41,858 from 1:4,011 in the year 2000. The estimated risk for T. cruzi in Latin America decreased from 1:762 to 1:3,360. The estimated risks for 2003 are still unacceptably high. Lack of screening and high prevalence of markers of infectious diseases among blood donors contribute to the risk, which may be greater than estimated if quality of testing were to be taken into consideration. Only 53% of existing blood banks participate in programs of external evaluation of performance, and, among those which do, inaccurate results are common. 

The most important constraint to achieving the goal of blood safety is the lack of a well coordinated national blood system, which results in a multiplicity of hospital-based blood banks being responsible for procurement of supplies, including blood. Implementation of quality assurance in that setting is very difficult. 

A well-coordinated national blood system is required to achieve sufficiency, opportunity, quality, and safety of blood for transfusion in the Caribbean and Latin American countries. The Directing Council is requested to examine the Progress Report on the Regional Initiative for Blood Safety and the plan of action for 2006-2010, and to consider the resolution proposed by the Executive Committee.