Each year, blood transfusions save millions of human lives around the world. If the safety of blood is not guaranteed, HIV infection is risked with the acceptance of blood.

In most developed countries, this risk is practically non-existent, because blood donors are selected so as to allow for a very small possibility of being HIV infected, and because all donated blood is tested for HIV antibodies.

This also applies to Slovenia, where all donated blood has been tested for HIV antibodies since January 1986. It is different, however, in some developing countries where a large share of the population is HIV infected, where there are no well organised national networks for blood supply, where donors are not chosen with regard to low risk of HIV infection and where all donated blood cannot be tested for HIV antibodies. In such countries, the risk of becoming infected with HIV by the acceptance of blood is considerable. Similarly, infection in these countries is also possible through the acceptance of blood products, the transplantation of tissues or organs, or artificial insemination with the semen of infected donors.

If you must travel to countries in which safe blood and health care procedures cannot be guaranteed:

• find out before departure which health care organisations can provide quality health care,
• consider whether you should take some sterile needles and syringes with you.

In the event of injury and the resulting loss of a major quantity of blood:

• first negotiate for plasma surrogates (crystalloids),
• when a blood transfusion is necessary, try and get a guarantee that the blood has been tested for HIV antibodies and Hepatitis B virus.