Document 0781
 DOCN  M95A0781
 TI    Benefits of HIV screening of blood transfusions in Zambia.
 DT    9510
 AU    Foster S; Buve A; Department of Public Health and Policy, London School
       of Hygiene; and Tropical Medicine, UK.
 SO    Lancet. 1995 Jul 22;346(8969):225-7. Unique Identifier : AIDSLINE
       MED/95341925
 AB    Blood transfusion continues to be an important route of transmission of
       HIV in developing countries, especially for young children following the
       perinatal period. Testing for HIV is costly and reliable donor support
       for the purchase of test kits is often essential, yet difficult to
       secure. The costs of screening transfusions for HIV and the financial
       benefits in terms of savings on treatment costs averted were calculated
       for a district hospital in Zambia where seroprevalence among donors was
       15.9%. Financial benefits exceed costs by a factor of 2.7-3.5. In 1991,
       1073 transfusions were given and an estimated 150 cases of
       transfusion-related AIDS were prevented by screening, of which 59% were
       in children aged 5 years or under and 31% were in women. The total cost
       of HIV screening was 3061 pounds ($4745), and the cost per case of HIV
       infection prevented was 20.40 pounds ($31.62); the cost of this
       protection for the population served by the hospital was 0.02 pounds
       ($0.03) per person. An estimated 3625 undiscounted healthy years of life
       were saved, of which nearly 69% were in children under 6, at a cost of
       0.85 pounds ($1.32) per year of life saved. It is essential that
       financial and political support for HIV screening of blood for
       transfusion is maintained.
 DE    Adolescence  Adult  Aged  AIDS Serodiagnosis/*ECONOMICS  Blood Donors
       *Blood Transfusion/ADVERSE EFFECTS/STANDARDS  Child  Child, Preschool
       Cost-Benefit Analysis  Female  Human  HIV Antibodies/*ANALYSIS/ECONOMICS
       HIV Infections/*ECONOMICS/EPIDEMIOLOGY/PREVENTION & CONTROL/
       TRANSMISSION  HIV Seroprevalence  HIV-1/*IMMUNOLOGY  Infant  Male  Mass
       Screening/*ECONOMICS  Middle Age  Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
       Zambia/EPIDEMIOLOGY  JOURNAL ARTICLE

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