27% of blood donations HIV-positive—report

One out of every four blood units donated to the government in June tested positive for the highly contagious human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), according to the Department of Health (DoH).

Based on the department’s HIV/AIDS registry report last month, 27 percent, or 32 out of the 118 donated blood packs, were found to be contaminated with the virus as confirmed by tests conducted by the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM).

The DoH said the information came from the National Voluntary Blood Safety Program which regularly monitors the safety of blood donations.

Confirmatory tests

The information on the “HIV reactive blood units” was then referred to the RITM for confirmation.

After another round of tests, 32 of the donated blood units were found positive for HIV. The rest tested negative while the results for four more were inconclusive, the DoH report said.

Last month’s findings brought to 102 the donated blood units that have been found to be contaminated with HIV since the start of the year.

It was also the highest number of HIV-positive blood units recorded since January.

A total of 11 blood units were found positive for the virus in January; 15 in February, 14 in March, 20 in April and 10 in May.

Responsible donors

Although the DoH emphasized the importance of donating blood regularly during last month’s observance of National Blood Donor’s Month, it also appealed to donors to be more responsible.

“Our main message to the public is that if they [have been] exposed to risky behaviors, please avoid donating blood [as] you could be donating your blood to loved ones and to your friends,” said Dr. Gerard Belimac, head of the DoH National AIDS/Sexually Transmitted Infection Prevention and Control Program.

Health Secretary Enrique Ona earlier encouraged the public to donate blood regularly to save the lives of those who might need it during critical times.

“We need to maintain a safe, [high] quality and accessible blood supply and to do that, more people are needed to donate blood,” Ona said.