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| US signs pact to improve Blood-Drawing Practices in Africa
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Washington, US (PANA) -
US officials have signed a pact with a leading global te
chnology company launching an initiative to help protect the
health of healthcare personnel and patients in African countries, the US State D
epartment said.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Washington Tuesday by Ambassador E
lizabeth Bagley, the U.S. Department of State Special
Representative for Global Partnerships, and Gary M. Cohen, Executive Vice Presid
ent of Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD).
Through this partnership, the U.S. Presidentâ?s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief
(PEPFAR) will work with BD to improve blood collection safety in
clinics and hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa.
In recent years, safer blood collection has become more critical than ever in su
b-Saharan nations and other developing countries severely impacted
by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Access to HIV treatment in developing countries has significantly increased in r
ecent years, which in turn has expanded the quantity of blood drawing
for HIV screening and monitoring tests
The three-year initiative -- which may be extended up to two additional years --
is scheduled to begin in October in Kenya and expand to include up to
four additional PEPFAR-supported countries.
It will ultimately support in-service training for as many as 10,000 healthcare
workers. When fully implemented, the monitoring component of the initiative
aims to track as many as two million blood draws within each participating count
ry.
''The programme will help hospital and clinical personnel improve their blood-dr
awing procedures and specimen handling, processes that are critical to the
proper management of HIV/AIDS patients,'' the State Department said in a release
obtained by PANA here.
It said the initiative would also work to control exposure to the virus among he
alth workers by providing post-exposure prophylaxis.
''In addition, the programme will help prevent needle stick injuries by establis
hing or enhancing needle stick injury surveillance. These monitoring measures ca
n
identify practices that pose risks to health workers and patients,'' it said.
Reflecting PEPFAR's focus on empowering developing nations in the battle against
HIV/AIDS, Ministries of Health in participating countries will take the lead
in developing individualized policies, guidelines and standard operating procedu
res for blood drawing and specimen handling.
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| Washington - 12/08/2009 |
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