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Blood Safety in South Africa gets Thumbs up

International experts from the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB), American Red Cross and Emory University have praised SANBS for its measures to ensure the safety of its blood supply at the 2007 South African Transfusion Medicine Education Congress, which was held in Johannesburg in August.

The media got an opportunity to speak to the international experts on the standard of blood donation in South Africa compared to other countries, during a media briefing following the international congress.

Dr Chris Hillyer, director of the Centre for Transfusion and Cellular Therapies at the Emory University, praised SANBS for the advances it has made in preventing the transmission of infectious diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis B and C through blood transfusion. He added that SANBS is operating at the highest technical level.

One of the burning issues discussed at the congress was SANBS’s policy regarding male donors who had male-to-male (MSM) sex. SANBS has reduced the deferral period from five years to six months at the end of 2006.

“The practice in South Africa balances the issue of blood safety and availability, while at the same time maintaining the dignity of the donor population,” said Dr Roger Dodd, an internationally renowned expert on transfusion medicine and advisor to the World Health Organisation.

In the USA, Canada and the Netherlands, men who have sex with men are banned from donating blood.

“The Blood Banks in the USA have found this ban inappropriate and have asked the FDA to revise the policy. The latter took the request to a public meeting and the outcome was that men who have sex with men should never donate blood,” Dr Dodd said.

Dr Sam Gulube, medical director of SANBS, says that the local blood transfusion service has engaged with various stakeholders such as the Medical Research Council to do research to determine if the prevalence of HIV is higher amongst men who have sex with men.
“SANBS is not a research organisation and while we are waiting for the funding to be made available and research protocols to be put in place, we believe our stance on the issue is fair, appropriate and scientifically right,” Dr Gulube said.
Drs Dodd and Gulube added that people should remember that it’s a right to receive blood, but a privilege to give it and that the safety of the patient always comes first.

Caption:
Dr Sam Gulube (medical director, SANBS) and Dr Chris Hillyer, director of the Centre for Transfusion and Cellular Therapies at the Emory University, during the media briefing following the 2007 South African Transfusion Medicine Education Congress.