DHAKA, Dec 2 (AFP) - Bangladesh's health minister appealed to doctors Thursday to test all donated blood to prevent transfusion patients from being infected with the HIV virus.
Khandoker Mosharraf Hossain said the government estimated there were about 7,500 people in Bangladesh living with HIV/AIDS and that blood transfusions were among the main reasons for infection.
"Whatever the estimated or reported number of HIV positive cases, the reality is that the disease is in Bangladesh and it is at an alarming stage. The issue is how we will combat the menace," the official news agency BSS quoted him as saying at a seminar on HIV/AIDS prevention.
He urged doctors to ensure all blood was tested for HIV before being used in transfusions.
Bangladesh has launched initiatives aimed at increasing the safety of blood transfusions but the United Nations Development Programme says unscreened blood continues to be used.
Although Bangladesh has a relatively low number of HIV/AIDS cases, a more than three-fold rise in infected drug users has prompted fears among campaigners about the spread of the disease.
Bangladesh shares a long porous border with India, which has the world's second largest number of people with HIV after South Africa.
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