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Backgrounder
Blood safety first
The Hemocentro Nacional in Ecuador recognized as one of the most modern
blood centers in Latin America
Over 92 million blood donations are collected
annually from all types of blood donors
worldwide.1 Safety of supply is critical for
transfusion or blood product recipients. Yet
despite the mandatory requirement for donated
blood to be tested for transfusion-transmitted
infection,
the
World
Health
Organization
(WHO) reported in 2011 that 39 out of 164
countries worldwide – approximately one in four
of those examined – had failed to implement routine testing to a uniform standard.2 In some
countries, even basic quality assurance remained lacking. Improved compliance with comprehensive
blood product safety requirements is therefore crucial given the large numbers of potential donors
worldwide living with undiagnosed infections.
Blood screening technologies help blood banks maintain supplies of reliable blood components.
However, the availability of safe blood depends on the role that health systems take in segregating
high-risk donors and performing appropriate laboratory analyses. In Latin America, the Latin
American Red Cross is faced with the second-highest HIV prevalence rate in the world and plays a
major role in screening donated blood. The Red Cross programs aim to limit the spread of infectious
disease in order to reduce the risk of people in need of donated blood. For this reason, the Latin
American Red Cross has installed a number of blood banks and screening centers equipped with the
latest technology from Roche.
Besides Colombia, Brazil and Argentina, Ecuador owns one of the few laboratories in a network of
blood screening centers in Latin America. Located in Quito, Ecuador’s capital, the center serves as a
national hub and performs serology and immunology testing, blood typing and testing for the five
basic pathogens HIV, hepatitis B and C, syphilis and Chagas disease. As the overall availability of
donated blood in Latin America is generally low, the provincial health boards and communities have
immediate access to the blood center’s database and can request blood as the need arises.
Roche Diagnostics Ltd.
6343 Rotkreuz
Switzerland
Communications
Roche Professional Diagnostics
Dr Daniel Fleiter
Tel. +41 41 798 59 90
Fax +41 41 798 73 86
www.roche.com
Backgrounder
Expanding its services in 2010 to include both nucleic acid (NAT) and serology testing, the laboratory
has become a modern blood screening and supply center. It has updated its infrastructure by
automating processes that were previously performed manually, and has introduced training
programs to help staff members adapt to the new technologies rapidly and diligently. One such
process is adherence to screening algorithms that help ensure consistency in screening and decision to
be made on donated blood and its components.
Screening tests need to have minimum false-positive results because each leads to a lost blood unit and
donor deferral. Because all Elecsys® assays show high seroconversion sensitivity, they can achieve a
positive result even in a very early stage of infection. For example, the Elecsys HIV combi PT and
Elecsys HBsAg II assays can detect the presence of infection within five and three days days after
polymerase chain reaction (PCR), respectively. During NAT screening, Multiplex testing improves
efficiency by enabling more than one viral target to be investigated with each test, while minipool
testing allows multiple donations to be screened. The high level of automation reduces manual tasks
and the risk of error. In addition, linking the pre-analytic units to the laboratory management system
enhances traceability and allows any errors that occur to be easily identified and rectified.
The Hemocentro Nacional of the Ecuadorian Red Cross has gained recognition as a reference
laboratory in Latin America as it shows the benefit of integral process consolidation, the integration of
a blood bank information system, quality control and voluntary donation programs. As one of the top
three investors in healthcare R&D worldwide, Roche is committed to continuing the development of
fast and accurate testing technologies for clinical information when and wherever healthcare
professionals and patients need them.
Reference:
1) World Health Organization (WHO). Blood safety – key global fact and figures in 2011. Fact
Sheet no. 279, state of June 2011
2) World Health Organization (WHO). Global Database on Blood Safety (GDBS) 2008.
Accessible at http://www.who.int/bloodsafety/global_database/en/