The National Agency for the Control of Aids has said that poorly screened blood donated to hospitals accounted for about 15 per cent of HIV/AIDS transmission in the country.
It said only 20 per cent of blood got from hospitals were properly screened, which called for all stakeholders to intensify efforts at getting hospitals to get blood only from the National Blood Transfusion Service.
It also said that some Nigerians were profiteering in the sale of blood to hospitals rather than willingly donating blood.
The Director of Policy, Strategy and Communication for NACA, Mr. Alex Ogundipe, stated these in an interview with our correspondent on Wednesday in Abuja.
He added that the issue of unsafe blood from the hospitals was so crucial to the campaign for the control HIV/AIDS in Nigeria as most donated bloods were unsafe and should be thoroughly screened before transfusion.
He said another discovery by NACA was that some people were profiteering from the sale of blood to hospitals, but the only way to cut them out was the voluntary donation of blood by Nigerians for proper screening by the NBTS.
He said, �We identified as far back as 1999/2000, when we began to put together the strategy for curtailing the HIV/AIDS spread, that unsafe blood was accountable for a good number of the HIV/AIDS transmission.
�It was clearly identified that through the transfusion of unsafe blood for emergency procedures and units across the hospitals, the weakness in that system was responsible for 10 to 15 per cent of transmission of HIV in Nigeria.
�So we pleaded and advocated for an efficient national blood transfusion service, which we are glad is now available in most zones of the country now.
�However, it has not spread across the country as it should have.
�Less than 20 per cent of blood transfused in Nigeria now is screened for HIV or Hepatitis. More needs to be done. If we can get such a service, at least we can be sure that we can close down about 10 per cent of the transmission through that route.�