Public health works: blood donation in urban China

Recent shifts in the global health infrastructure warrant consideration of the value and effectiveness of national public health campaigns. These shifts include the globalization of pharmaceutical research, the rise of NGO-funded health interventions, and the rise of biosecurity models of international health. We argue that although these trends have arisen as worthwhile responses to actual health needs, it is important to remember the key role that public health campaigns can play in the promotion of national health, especially in developing nations. Focusing on an example set by China in response to a public health crisis surrounding the national need for a clean and adequate blood supply and the inadvertent spread of HIV by way of blood donation in the early 1990's, we argue that there is an important role for strong national public health programs. We also identify the key factors that enabled China's response to this burgeoning epidemic to be, in the end, largely successful.