A STUDY ON THE PREVALENCE OF HIV AMONG BLOOD DONORS IN GUYANA

Objective: Blood safety remains an issue of major concern in transfusion programs especially in the developing countries with limited financial resources. Based on the UNAIDS 2012 estimation exercise, Guyana’s adult HIV prevalence is 1.3% which claims a steady reduction compared to HIV among the general population from 2004, when it was 2.4 percent1. The study was carried out to observe HIV prevalence among blood donors during the period 2010-2011.

Methods: The study was a Retrospective, Laboratory based one and the data were collected from National Public Health Reference during the period 2010-2011. Data analysis was done using SPSS 20.0.

Results: A total of 15,900 blood samples were tested for HIV during 2010-2011; 226 were found to be positive – a prevalence of 1.42%; 95% CI (1.25-1.62).

Conclusions: There is an increase in the prevalence of HIV among blood donors during the study period. The data highlight the need for further study to determine whether this pattern of increase prevalence extends over a long period of time. Testing of the potential donors using rapid tests could help to avoid HIV transmission and unnecessary collection and destruction of blood.