South Africa is in the midst of an escalating human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)AIDS pandemic, with an estimated 5.3 million people and 11.4 percent of the overall population infected, according to background information in the article. The South African National Blood Service (SANBS) collects more than 700,000 units of whole blood each year using internationally endorsed principles of voluntary donation, screening, and testing. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 5 percent to 10 percent of HIV/AIDS cases continue to be acquired from infected blood transfusions. An analysis of South African donations in 1999 estimated the risk of HIV-1 infection at 3.4 per 100,000 donations. These data necessitated the development of a program to minimize this risk.

Anthon du P. Heyns, D.Sc., M.D., of the South African National Blood Service, Weltevreden Park, South Africa, and colleagues examined the prevalence of HIV-1 in blood donations before and after the implementation of new policies and estimated the residual risk for all blood donations following full program implementation. The researchers compared the prevalence of HIV-1 in blood donations collected from 1999 through 2000 with blood donations collected from 2001 through 2002 and estimated the incidence of HIV-1 in first-time donations and the residual risk for all donations in 2001-2002. All blood donors in the Inland region of the South African National Blood Service were analyzed.

The new policies included closing donor clinics in areas where HIV prevalence is high and programs targeting the youth and promoting repeat donation were initiated. Risk behavior education programs were developed for staff and donors. Structured donor interviews with direct
'"/>

Contact: Anthon du P. Heyns
aheyns@inl.sanbs.org.za
JAMA and Archives Journals
31-Jan-2006