Rwanda blood screening

According to a retrospective analysis of blood donors in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali, around 12% of blood donors are HIV positive in 1982 – the epidemic has taken hold in the country. Blood screening doesn’t become available until 1985, but once it does Rwanda becomes an African success story for blood screening, having benefitted from pre-existing blood transfusion centres set up by the Red Cross. By 1987, blood screening has restored confidence in blood banks and the numbers of people donating blood returns to numbers seen in the pre-AIDS era.