PEPFAR and BD Improve African Blood Collection Safety

United States officials have signed a partnership agreement with Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD; Franklin Lakes, NJ, USA), launching an initiative to improve blood collection safety in clinics and hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of the pact is to protect healthcare personnel and patients in African countries from infectious agents such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that are transmitted by blood.

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Washington on August 11, 2009 by Ambassador Elizabeth Bagley, the U.S. Department of State special representative for global partnerships (Washington DC, USA), and Gary M. Cohen, executive vice president of BD.

Safer blood collection has become critical in sub-Saharan nations and other emerging African countries, which are severely impacted by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Access to HIV treatment in these countries significantly increased in recent years and consequently has expanded the quantity of blood drawing for HIV screening and monitoring tests.

The three-year initiative--which may be extended up to two additional years--is scheduled to begin in Kenya and expand to include up to four additional U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR)-supported countries. It will ultimately support in-service training for as many as 10,000 healthcare workers. When fully implemented, the monitoring component of the initiative aims to track as many as two million blood-draws within each participating country.

''The program will help hospital and clinical personnel improve their blood-drawing procedures and specimen handling, processes that are critical to the proper management of HIV/AIDS patients,'' said the State Department (Washington DC, USA) release. In addition, "… [it] will help prevent needle stick injuries by establishing or enhancing needle stick-injury surveillance. These monitoring measures can identify practices that pose risks to health workers and patients.''

Ministries of Health in participating countries will develop individualized policies, guidelines, and standard operating procedures for blood drawing and specimen handling.

Related Links:
U.S. Global Partnership Initiative, the Department of State
Becton, Dickinson and Company
PEPFAR