Using Molecular Biology Technique for Blood Screening In Latin America: Bogotá and Havana
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- Caribbean
- Havana
- international
- South America
- Health and Medicine
- Science and Technology
- 05 / 22 / 2009
Dr. Pérez Torres addressed participants at the conferences on Haematology, Immunology, and Transfusion and Regenerating Medicine ongoing in Havana.
Dr Pérez Torres said the new molecular biology technology is being used to screen blood in the City of Havana as a pilot program that will then be used to screen blood donations throughout the country. She said that Cuba bought the technology from a Swiss company; one of only two worldwide that possess the technology, the other is a US company.
Dr Pérez Torres said that the technology is used in only two cities in Latin America —Bogotá and Havana. It is the only technology that can detect viruses from different diseases like HIV/Aids during their so-called “window period.”
“The main objective of Cuban Transfusion Medicine is to make blood safer,” said Dr Pérez Torres.
“Although this new technique is only being used in Havana, it doesn´t mean that the blood donated in other provinces is not safe. All blood donations are screened using a serologic test to detect syphilis and other tests to find the virus responsible for HIV/Aids, and Hepatitis C and B.”
Dr. Bernardo Camacho Rodríguez, from the District Homocenter in Bogotá, Colombia, said that there are almost 13 million blood donations in Latin America that have not been screened. He noted that in Latin America there is a shortage of blood and donors, as well as a lack of a community culture, an area where Cuba stands out.
“It is necessary to reorganize, classify, regionalize, centralize and modernize these services,” he stressed.
(Juventud Rebelde)
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