Revista panamericana de salud pública = Pan American journal of public health
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Rev. Panam. Salud Publica · Feb 2003
Availability, safety, and quality of blood for transfusion in the Americas.
This article has two objectives: (1) to present for countries and territories of the Region of the Americas data on the number of blood donations, proportion of voluntary blood donors versus remunerated blood donors, coverage of screening for infectious agents, and separation of donated blood into its components and (2) to explore the relationships of those characteristics with economic and organizational factors in the countries and territories. ⋯ The availability, safety, and quality of blood for transfusion in the Americas needs to be improved. As part of that effort, national policies and strategies must be put into place so that the resources already allocated for blood services are better utilized.