KARACHI, Dec 23: Blood transfusion services, which are supposed to ease the burden of diseases, are most probably spreading them.

The reason: more than 80 per cent of the blood to be transfused comes from unreliable sources, including paid donors many of whom suffer from potentially fatal diseases, like Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B and C.

Of the 20 per cent of the blood that is being screened for these potentially fatal diseases, only a small fraction undergoes tests that conform to WHO standards.

This was stated by experts at a national symposium on Transfusion Transmitted Infectious Diseases held on Tuesday by the Infectious Diseases Society of Pakistan and Bismillah Taqee Institute of Health Sciences and Blood Diseases.

On the occasion, the health professionals called for wide-ranging efforts so that the blood available for transfusion could be made safe as soon as possible.

They called for creating an awareness among common people, paramedical staff and general practitioners, about the wrong practices prevalent in the health sector.

Dr Syed Abdul Mujeeb of the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre said the prevalence of blood transmitted infections among recipients was fairly high. He said only 20 per cent of the blood was screened for HIV, Hepatitis B and C, malaria and syphilis.

He said the patients visited the blood banks so that they could get better, not to be infected. The situation calls for sincere efforts at several levels, said Dr Mujeeb.

Prof Sarwar Zuberi of the Ziauddin Medical University spoke at length about the prevalence of Hepatitis B and C in patients of Thalassaemia, who required several transfusions every week. She said in South Asia the prevalence of Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) stood at 12 per cent and that of Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) at 35 per cent.

She pointed that unlike Bangladesh, where the prevalence of HBV and HCV was roughly equal, in Pakistan and India the burden of HCV was greater as compared to HBV. Hepatitis G Virus was also found in Pakistan in considerable numbers.

Initial infection with HCV did not induce immunity among people. The professor said both Interferon therapy and bone- marrow transplant should be considered for treatment of people suffering from chronic liver disease.

Iron overload, coupled with alcoholism and Hepatitis infection, could lead to chronic liver disease, said Prof Zuberi. She was of the opinion that every patient of Thalassaemia should be vaccinated against Hepatitis before the transfusion regime is kicked off.

Dr Adeel Butt, a US-based doctor, said globally 170 million people suffered from Hepatitis, making it five times more infectious than HIV. South East Asia alone accounted for 32 million patients.

A study indicated that the prevalence of HCV in the country was between 15 and 24 per cent, said Dr Butt. And between 4 and 6 per cent of the HCV-positive people were infected by tainted blood they got from one transfusion service or the other.

In a short study, he said 66 per cent of the people were of the opinion that general weakness was reason enough to go for blood transfusion. The same study showed that in 94 per cent of the cases, injectibles were administered with recycled or old syringes.

Dr Butt presented data and graphs to show how making screening of blood mandatory before donation had made transfusion services in the US safe. Now use of injectible drugs infected more people than blood transfusion.

He said the Pakistani patients were likely to respond better to the currently available treatment as compared to the Americans. However, the treatments on offer were quite expensive and there were several side-effects.

Dr Arshad Altaf of the Aga Khan University said healthcare waste management in the country was not safe. Healthcare workers and others in the recycling business were at great risk of acquiring blood-borne pathogens.

He called for organized efforts at the institutional level to collect and dispose healthcare waste. He also underscored the importance of educating the physicians, surgeons, paramedical staff and other workers regarding safe and sound hospital practices.

Later a question and answer session was held in which the audience put questions to the panel, comprising Prof Moinuddin, Dr Ziaur Rehman, Dr Adeel Butt, Dr Birjees Mazhar, Dr Sharaf Ali Shah, Dr Naseem Salahuddin, Dr Farhana Memon, Dr Khalid Zafar Hashmi and Dr Afia Zafar.