Abstract

PIP: Education and counseling services aimed at blood donors have the potential not only to increase the safety of the blood supply, but also to promote safer sexual behavior. Public education campaigns should emphasize the social responsibility aspect of blood donation, including stories about lives saved with blood transfusions, and stress the need for donors to act responsibly by not putting others at risk of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). When people first come to the blood collection center or mobile van, it is helpful to give a talk or show a video about the blood collection process. Also recommended are one-to-one sessions with a trained health worker in which potential donors can assess, on the basis of questions about their personal risk factors, whether they should exclude themselves. After the Honduras Red Cross National Blood Program introduced a brochure containing information about HIV risk and the importance of not donating blood if one has engaged in high-risk activities, the HIV prevalence among donors declined from 0.38 in 1990 to 0.19 a year later, despite increases in HIV seroprevalence in the general population. In Zimbabwe, the National Blood Transfusion Service has developed special outreach programs for students 16 years and older, the source of 65% of the country's blood supply. Talks are given at schools, and students are trained to be peer promoters. School leaders are invited to register for regular blood collection services at community centers; many formally pledge to donate blood 25 times in their life-time and to seek to remain HIV-negative.