Search
  1. Home
  2. Southern Africa
  3. Zimbabwe
  • News

Blood donors

    JOHANNESBURG

    As the spread of AIDS talks a large toll in Zimbabwe, the number of blood donors in the nation of 12 million people has decreased sharply.

    David Mvere, director of the National Blood Transfusion Service of Zimbabwe, said in a statement carried by PANA news agency that the AIDS pandemic in the country, one of the worst affected in sub-Saharan Africa, had made it difficult to secure blood supplies.

    "We continue to struggle to meet demand," he said. "We estimate a shortfall of approximately 20 percent especially in Harare." He said Zimbabwe stringently screened all blood donated for AIDS and other infections such as hepatitis and syphilis, and discarded about 8 percent of all blood collected.

    "Zimbabwe has one of the best transfusion services in the world, and the sero-prevalance of HIV in the donor population has been reduced from 5 percent in 1990 to 0.70 percent in 1999. With such a low prevalence, the risk of HIV transmission through blood is very negligible."

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join