PMI finds contaminated blood stocks
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Mon, 06/29/2009 7:22 PM
The Malang, East Java, branch of the Indonesian Red Cross (PMI), which stores blood for public use, has found 20 packs of blood contaminated with HIV/AIDS, hepatitis B and C, and other sexually transmitted diseases.
“This is the result of examinations of donated blood, which we do to ensure that blood given to patients is clean,” PMI blood transfusion unit deputy head, Lely Rachmawati, said Monday as quoted by tempointeraktif.com.
The contaminated packs come from the month's donation of some 700 people, she said. All the contaminated packs have since been disposed of.
Lely added the PMI had recommended that donors with illnesses be given proper treatment, with psychologists and volunteers assisting those with HIV/AIDS. All the affected donors, she said, should not donate blood until they had recuperated.
The PMI’s blood stocks are fast dwindling, due to high demand. The Malang PMI has only four bags of type A blood, 37 of type B, 22 of type O and 8 of type AB.
Lely said the ideal figures would be 30 to 40 packs of each blood type, because the Malang PMI served not only hospitals in Malang, but also those in Blitar and Tulungagung. (adh)
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