Blood donors spread AIDS

Blood donors spread AIDS

HANOI (AFP): At least 100 people have been infected with AIDS
in Vietnam after undergoing transfusions using blood from HIV
positive donors, an official said yesterday.

About 200 blood donors carrying the Human Immune Deficiency
Virus (HIV), which can lead to Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome, (AIDS), were detected across the country, said Do Trung
Phan, head of the Health Ministry's Haemotology and Blood
Transfusion Institute.

Phan added that there may be many more cases of infection
through transfusions given Vietnam's poor detection facilities
and the fact that most blood donors are people who sell their
blood to make money.

Official figures suggest at least 8,000 people have tested
positive for HIV, although the figure could be up to 100 times
higher, Phan said.