Leading investigators and practitioners in the area of blood safety from Johns Hopkins University Schools of Medicine and Public Health, The Institute of Blood Transfusion (IBT) of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and National AIDS Reference Laboratory (NARL) of Center for AIDS Prevention and Control (NCAIDS), Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine propose a training program to promote blood safety in China. The People's Republic of China (PRC) with over 1.2 billion people is facing a tremendous challenge in safeguarding the nation's blood supply. New blood transfusion laws and regulations have been established which represent Chinese blood bank community's significant efforts to improve blood safety. The goal of safeguarding the nation's blood supply, however, remains a very difficult task. The major current threat to Chinese blood safety is the rapid spread of HIV. Other factors include the traditional reluctance of healthy individuals to donate blood based on deep-rooted cultural beliefs, and the lack of adequate funds supporting effective educational and training efforts. It has been estimated that the number of HIV infected individuals is about 1 million now (10 millions by 2010) and 90% of HIV infected individuals are not aware of their HIV infection status (estimates from Chinese National Center for AIDS Prevention and Control). Therefore it is imperative to develop an effective training program to protect the nation's blood supply and prevent blood recipients from becoming victims of contaminated blood.
Specific aims of this program are: To develop a comprehensive training program to provide funding and technical assistance to the Chinese blood bank community in the following areas: 1. Recruitment of volunteer blood donors from low-risk populations. 2. Increase people's awareness of blood safety issues, with emphasis upon the risk of transfusion transmitted diseases (TTD). 3. Promote the judicious use of blood products to reduce unnecessary blood transfusions. 4. To improve the practices of TTD testing, with emphasis on HIV. In the later years of the training program, we will also support advanced research training for Chinese trainees with the objective of improving China's research capacity in the field of blood safety. Local demonstration projects will also be components of our program.
| Sahasrabuddhe, Vikrant V; Vermund, Sten H (2007) The future of HIV prevention: control of sexually transmitted infections and circumcision interventions. Infect Dis Clin North Am 21:241-57, xi |
