World's blood supply remains unsafe for millions
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
More than 13 million of the 75 million units of blood donated worldwide each year are not tested for all transfusion-transmissible infections. Furthermore, says the World Health Organization (WHO), testing, which costs $40 to $50 per unit (each unit equals around 450 millilitres), is also sometimes unreliable, particularly when performed by inadequately trained staff or when there are shortages of suitable equipment or erratic supplies of test kits.