PRESS RELEASES

PEPFAR Supports Nigeria’s Blood Safety Program

December 11, 2007
 
The U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (“PEPFAR”) supports the blood safety program of the Nigerian government as one component of HIV prevention. PEPFAR provides both technical and financial assistance for this program.

In fiscal year 2007, PEPFAR provided a total of $4,504,500 to its partners, including the National Blood Transfusion Service, Safe Blood for Africa and other international partners to support blood safety initiatives in Nigeria.

The support for Nigeria’s blood safety program stems from the U.S. Government’s commitment to support the desire of the government of Nigeria to reduce the incidence of transfusion-associated HIV infection and other transfusion-transmissible infections, including hepatitis B and C and syphilis. PEPFAR has supported the formulation and launch of Nigeria’s National Blood Transfusion Policy.  It has provided continuing support for the implementation of the policy throughout the country.

The U.S. Government support has focused on two objectives:  1) to help revive and sustain the Nigerian National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) to extend blood-banking facilities with modern testing methods across the country; and, 2) to support emergency transfusion screening in the clinical facilities that PEPFAR is supporting until they have access to the NBTS centers. 

In an effort to increase safe blood supplies in the country, the government of Nigeria is moving away from a fragmented hospital based transfusion services using paid donors and family replacement donors to a centrally coordinated and regulated service using recruited and retained low-risk voluntary, non-remunerated blood donors.  The program also advocates the testing of all donated blood for transfusion with more sensitive testing methods than what is generally practiced.  In addition, PEPFAR supports training consistent with the national plan and policy regarding blood safety.

Other areas of PEPFAR program support include capacity building (human and institutional), awareness creation, and support for commodity procurement and management. This support will help the FMOH, through the NBTS and international partners, deliver well-coordinated, efficient, and high quality blood safety services and programs.
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