China launched a nationwide campaign Thursday to put an end to
unsafe blood collection and supply, a major cause of the rapid
spread of infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and hepatitis.
"I was shocked that all three AIDS patients to whom I randomly
spoke in Ditan Hospital on World AIDS Day last year had been
infected with HIV through unsafe blood transfusions," said
Executive Vice Minister of Health Gao Qiang.
Gao made the remarks at a national television conference marking
the start of the campaign.
Last December, Gao visited Beijing's Ditan Hospital with Premier
Wen
Jiabao. The visit gave unprecedented attention to HIV/AIDS
control.
In a country with 840,000 HIV/AIDS sufferers, unsafe blood
collection and transfusion is a significant and dangerous channel
for HIV transmission. Intravenous drug use and unprotected sexual
contact are other major routes.
Gao said that in the early 1990s, poor government management of
the blood market led to many infections among farmers, many of whom
sold plasma to blood collection stations.
"Thousands of them have now become AIDS patients, and many of
them are dying in poverty-stricken areas of China. They are so
pitiable," Gao said.
Thanks to the fight against illegal blood stations in the late
1990s and efforts to strengthen blood management in recent years,
the blood supply is now much safer, Gao said.
However, problems remain. The current campaign aims to
strengthen supervision and standardize the blood market.
Public security entities and procuratorates under the State
Council will also investigate and punish people who organize unsafe
blood sales and officials who fail to supervise properly.
One obstacle, which is a significant factor contributing to
chaos in the blood market, is that voluntary blood donations do not
meet the country's clinical needs, Gao said.
Between 10 and 20 percent of the clinical blood supply is
purchased and 20 to 30 percent comes from planned free donation.
The situation enables illegal blood stations to organize people to
sell blood and then profit from it.
The aim of the campaign, which will last more than six months,
will be to shut down these illegal stations, Gao said.
All blood collection, both voluntary and paid, must be carried
out at authorized blood centers and stations.
A total of 2.3 billion yuan (US$270 million) has been invested
in the past two years to increasing the number of blood stations in
central and western China, where the majority of HIV/AIDS patients
infected by tainted blood live.
An additional 25 million yuan (US$3 million) has been used to
buy rapid HIV testing equipment to prepare for emergency needs in
remote towns and villages without blood stations nearby.
The equipment has been sent to remote hospitals and allows
grassroots doctors to check the blood of local residents.
Presently, in many areas of China, such as Sichuan and Yunnan
provinces, hospitals still collect blood themselves. The practice,
which is now prohibited, has led to many medical accidents, Gao
said.
Even approved blood stations have problems, such as poor-quality
testing and collecting blood too frequently from people whose
livelihood depends on blood sales.
The Ministry of Health reported earlier this week that two blood
collection stations were closed and one other fined for having
collected too much blood from as many people as possible at low
prices, and then selling the blood to processors or even hospitals
at much higher prices.
(China Daily May 28, 2004)