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.