Quality-assured blood testing

Export Indicator

Percentage of blood units that are screened for bloodborne diseases in a quality-assured manner
What it measures

This indicator measures the extent of quality-assured screening of blood units at different levels of the health system.

Rationale
  • Unsafe blood transfusion is still a concern, especially in low- and middle-income countries where the prevalence of transfusion-transmissible infections is high and the quality and coverage of blood screening are inadequate.
  • Less than 100% screening indicates lack of or inappropriate laboratory screening and flags the risk of transmission through unsafe blood supplies.
Numerator

Number of donated blood units tested in a quality-assured manner for HIV, HBV, HCV, and syphilis

Denominator

Number of donated blood units

Method of measurement

For the numerator and denominator. Programme records (for example, blood donation logs, laboratory records)

For the purpose of data collection, testing in a quality-assured manner is defined as "testing performed in a laboratory that: (1) uses documented standard operating procedures; (2) participates in an external quality assessment scheme."

Disaggregation
  • Facility type
  • Location, geographical-administrative units (for example, region, district).
Further information

WHO Strategic Information Guidelines, 2020 (https://indicatorregistry.unaids.org/sites/default/files/9789240000735-eng.pdf)

Global health sector strategy on HIV, 2016-2021. Geneva: WHO; 2016 (https://www.who.int/hiv/strategy2016-2021/ghss-hiv/en/).

Global hepatitis report, 2017. Geneva: WHO; 2017 (https://www.who.int/hepatitis/publications/global-hepatitis-report2017/en/).