Patchy blood testing in central Asia raises risk of HIV infection

The lack of adequate screening of donated blood in countries in central Asia presents a clear and present danger of transmission of HIV and other communicable diseases, says a World Bank report published this month.

Patchy testing is creating a false sense of security, the report states. In some of the region’s health facilities donated blood is not tested at all, and where testing is done it misses blood contaminated with HIV, hepatitis B and C, and syphilis.

The report is based on findings of a 2007 assessment—by the Central Asia Regional Office of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention—of blood transfusion services in Kazakhstan, …