HIV prevalence in donated blood down

manager Mr Zamile Musekiwa said about 2 percent of the collected blood had HIV.
He, however, said prevalence of HIV in donated blood has been decreasing over the years.
According to 2011 statistics, only 0,7 percent of the collected blood was HIV positive.
“Blood collections have, however, been going up and down over the same years. We started off very well with about 75 000 units in 1995 but dropped to about 42 000 in 2009. Collections have picked up again between 2010 and 2011 to over 80 000 units,” Mr Musekiwa said.
Mr Musekiwa said NBTS carries out 100 percent screening on all donated blood for sexually transmitted diseases including HIV and Aids.
He, however, said consumption of blood at hospitals is lower than before due to inadequate infrastructure and low budgets for blood products at the hospitals.
It is estimated that 40 percent of blood products are provided to women following complications of birth, 35 percent are used in surgery and trauma while 25 percent are used in other medical care and paediatrics.
He reiterated that fees charged by the organisation for a pint of blood were below production costs.
Mr Musekiwa said it costs about US$128 to produce a pint of blood but it is sold for at least US$50 to Government institutions.
“Of course, we receive some subsidies from Government, National Aids Council and other donors but these funds are inadequate for both recurrent and capital expenditure,” he said.
Government institutions pay US$50 for a pint of blood, mission hospitals US$65 while private institutions fork out US$105.
“With this financial crisis, our capacity to introduce new technology so as to improve blood products and safety is limited. Debtors are also unable to pay and a ‘stop supply service’ is not the first choice,” Mr Musekiwa said.