Belarus among world leaders in donated blood safety

Belarus is among world leaders in terms of the safety of donated blood, Esfir Sfirnovskaya, chief researcher of the cellular drug resistance mechanisms lab of the national research center of transfusion and medical biotechnology, member of the WHO expert panel, told reporters on 11 June, BelTA has learned.

“Our country is among world leaders in the level of donated blood security because Belarus has introduced several levels of protecting patients from infections which can emerge as a result of blood transfusion,” Esfir Sfirnovskaya said. At the initial stage of registration Belarusian specialists turn down all potential donors who once had hepatitis B or C, HIV and now carry the virus. It also pertains to the people who had tuberculosis and sexually transmitted diseases.

The next stage is the testing of donated blood. “At present the blood testing technology allows reducing the risk of infection with viruses and bacteria during blood transfusion by a factor of hundreds. For example, 15 years ago hundreds of HIV positive donations were registered in Europe. Only one HIV positive donation has been registered in Germany since 2004 thanks to the fact that Germany applies the same plasma quarantine procedure and gene testing of viruses as in Belarus,” Esfir Sfirnovskaya said. She also noted that the efforts of the Healthcare Ministry, the national research center aim to enhance the security of donated blood.

According to the expert, in order to encourage a donor to save a patient's life it is needed to make donors understand that when saving someone else's life they should not do harm to people's health. “A donor should realize that he or she must provide extensive information about habits, trips and contacts,” Esfir Sfirnovskaya said. The blood donated for free is the safest blood as a donor is not interested in any compensation.