Taking a closer look at blood donation in Latin America

Shortages and unsafe blood still threaten the health of millions of individuals who need blood transfusions in Latin America. There are many demographic and socio-economical factors contributing to this situation. Poverty, high prevalence of infectious diseases, fragmented blood systems, reliance on replacement donors and hospital-based systems are undermining efforts to promote and retain voluntary non-remunerated blood donors (VNRBD) and are endangering the blood supply. Some economic factors seem unsurmountable in countries such as Haiti, Guatemala and Honduras, where the cost of processing a unit of donated blood exceeds the annual per capita budget allocation to health care. However, many countries which have chosen to coordinate their efforts nationally are able to attract 15 times more vnrbd. Working cooperatively with non-governmental agencies such as the Red Cross are also yielding higher rates of voluntary blood donors and fewer paid donors.