• Just the Facts:

  • 112.5-million blood donations globally and half of these come from High-income countries

  • High-income countries more often use blood for supportive care during surgery, in traumas or therapy for malignancies

  • Low and middle-income countries more often use blood to manage pregnancy-related complications or in severe childhood anemia

  • General availability of blood is based on the donation rate

    • High-income countries have 33.1 donations/1000 people

    • Middle-income countries have 11.7 donations/1000 people

    • Low-income countries have 4.6 donations/1000 people

  • 70 countries reported collecting fewer than 10 donations per 1000 people and half of these countries were in the African region

  • Disease prevalence in the region is reflected in the transmission rate of transfusion-transmissible infections (TTI)

 

Table 1. Prevalence of TTIs in blood donations (Median, Interquartile range (IQR)), by income groups

	HIV	HBV	HCV
High-income countries	0.003% (0.001% – 0.040%)	0.030% (0.008% – 0.180%)	0.020% (0.003% – 0.160%)
Middle-income countries	0.120% (0.020% – 0.340%)	0.910% (0.280% – 2.460%)	0.320% (0.090% – 0.690%)
Low-income countries	1.080% (0.560% – 2.690%)	3.700% (3.340% – 8.470%)	1.030% (0.670% – 1.800%)

 

Submitted by: Dr. Laura Diegelmann