[Aspects of blood transfusion in Djibouti]

Blood transfusion in Djibouti is organized with reference to relevant French regulation and the recommendations of the World Health Organization. The system is basically family donor system operating on the principle of one tested unit of blood for every two untested units donated. Spontaneous donations mainly from the police and army personnel account for only 20% of the 2500 units collected each year. The principle blood products are adult whole blood, adult red cells, and fresh frozen plasma. Products are distributed after viral and microbial testing for infectious disease. Overall the percentage of blood products that are not released due to detection of infectious agents is 17.5%. This rate is well correlated with the incidence of hepatitis B (15.5%), HIV infection (3.4%), hepatitis C (1.5%) and syphilis (0.4%) in Djibouti. The greatest demand for whole blood comes from medical departments where indigent people are treated for anemia due to dietary deficiency. Contamination by HIV present at undetectable levels at the time of testing is a serious problem. Measures should be taken to prevent anemia due to dietary deficiency and develop the use of autologous transfusion.