PMI unveils 8 cases of HIV-contaminated blood

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Red Cross (PMI) recently discovered that eight bags of blood in its blood bank were contaminated with HIV, an executive said on Saturday.

HM. Muas, head of PMI's Jakarta office, did not give details on the uncovering of the contaminated blood but just said that the number is relatively small compared to the amount of blood it accepts from donors. About 164,000 blood bags are collected from the donors annually.

Muas told Antara that the uncovering has prompted the Red Cross to intensify its tests on blood from donors in a bid to prevent the spread of diseases through blood transfusion.

"The blood tests will be intensified even though they are expensive. Each test on a bag of blood from donors costs about Rp 100,000 (US$45.45)," he said.

The Red Cross is currently testing blood from donors to detect any viruses. The tests are conducted by local doctors, with the assistance of foreign experts to guarantee the tests' validity.

He explained that there are 434,444 active blood donors in Jakarta at present. Last year the Red Cross' Jakarta office managed to collect 164,244 bags of blood. Another 170,000 bags are targeted this year, he said.

The Red Cross has launched a fund-raising campaign Sept. 17 to collect additional funds from the public to finance the testing activities, Muas said.

The campaign, lasting until Nov. 17, is expected to enable PMI to raise additional funds of Rp 2.1 billion. (hhr)