Brazil Makes AIDS Blood Tests Mandatory
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil introduced on Friday mandatory testing of donated blood and prison sentences for violators in response to surveys showing more than 200 AIDS victims contracted the disease through contaminated transfusions.
“Throughout Brazil, contaminated transfusions have been responsible for an alarming number of AIDS cases,” President Jose Sarney said in a national radio address after approving a bill that had been rushed through Congress.
Official January figures show 2,458 people in Brazil have contracted acquired immune deficiency syndrome, 220 of them from contaminated blood.
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