Cambodian Blood Supply Tainted by Demand

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1996. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Cambodian Blood Supply Tainted by Demand

Nature Medicine (12/96) Vol. 2, No. 12, P. 1289
Marcus, Adam

Abstract: Due to an aversion among Cambodians to the practice of donating blood, donors in Phnom Penh are sometimes paid by desperate blood centers--despite a law against it. The practice concerns health officials who fear that paid donors are threatening the safety of the blood supply. A pint of blood sells for between $50 and $200, which is several times more than the average monthly salary. Workers at the blood center are paid off to protect the center from prosecution. The people who sell blood, often prostitutes or intravenous drug users, are 10 times more likely to have HIV, syphilis, and other sexually transmitted diseases than other donors, according to Dr. Monique Gue Guen, who operates the National Transfusion Center in Cambodia. About 6.5 percent of blood donations at the center tested positive for HIV last year, a higher rate than any other Asian country has reported. In Thailand, where screening procedures are especially good, the rate of HIV-positive donations was 0.3 percent. An estimated 30 percent of the blood units collected at the Cambodian center come from paid donors. Health officials are seeking safer donors, but the need for paid donors is expected to continue.

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