title: The status of blood safety in ECO member states.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Access to the information concerning blood safety is essential for managing problems and overcoming the challenges that are faced in any given region. Information on the availability and safety of blood in countries of the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO) is largely lacking. To address this problem, the Iranian Blood Transfusion Organisation, in collaboration with other ECO member states, initiated a research project in 2009 to collect, analyse and compare statistics on blood safety in the region.
  
  
  METHODS
  A modified and summarised version of the Global Database on Blood Safety (GDBS) questionnaire was used to collect data. The questionnaire was sent to all ten countries in the ECO region. The heads of the national transfusion services or focal points were requested to complete the form. Related literature and websites were also reviewed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Only three countries (Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey) completed the questionnaire, while other countries provided their available data on some parts of the questionnaire. The number of donations per year varied from 5 to 27/1,000 population. The rate of donors positive for human immunodeficiency virus ranged from 0.003% to 0.2%. The rate of donors positive for hepatitis C virus antibody varied from 0.05% to 3.9% while that of hepatitis B virus surface antigen ranged from 0.15% to 3.91% respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is very clear diversity in blood transfusion services among ECO member states. Most countries in the region do not have a data-recording system. It is generally estimated that the need for blood is much higher than the supply in this region. Deficiencies in donor screening and a high prevalence of transfusion-transmitted infections are other important challenges.
authors.affiliation: Blood Transfusion Research Centre, High Institute for Research & Education on Transfusion Medicine, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Fariba
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Seighali
authors.affiliation: International Affairs Department, Iranian Blood Transfusion Organisation, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Nasim S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Hosseini Divkolaye
authors.affiliation: International Affairs Department, Iranian Blood Transfusion Organisation, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ebrahim
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Koohi
authors.affiliation: Blood Transfusion Research Centre, High Institute for Research & Education on Transfusion Medicine, Tehran, Iran.|Department of Immunology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Pourfathollah
authors.affiliation: Afghanistan National Blood Safety and Transfusion Services, Afghanistan Ministry of Public Health, Kabul, Afghanistan.
authors.forename: Ahmad M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Rahmani
mesh_terms: D001209:Asia, Central / Q000453:epidemiology; D001771:Blood Banks / Q000458:organization & administration; D001782:Blood Donors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000600:supply & distribution; D058731:Blood Safety; D003906:Developing Countries; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000453:epidemiology; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006509:Hepatitis B / Q000453:epidemiology; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D007390:International Agencies; D007391:International Cooperation; D008499:Medical Records; D008877:Middle East / Q000453:epidemiology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology