§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what is the percentage of blood donors shown to have hepatitis C in random tests carried out by the national blood transfusion service;
(2)whether he proposes to introduce screening of blood donors for hepatitis C;
(3)whether supplies of stored blood plasma are checked for indications of hepatitis C.
§ Mr. FreemanA screening test for antibodies to hepatitis C has been available only since the middle of the year, and no confirmatory test is at present available. In a preliminary study the national blood transfusion service examined frozen blood samples, but this work cannot be used to predict likely infection in fresh blood donations.
A systematic evaluation of the test on 15,000 donations at three transfusion centres is currently in progress. Results are not yet available. The introduction of the test for all blood donations is under review and will depend on the results of the evaluation and other scientific evidence supporting its benefit. Stored plasma is not tested for hepatitis C. It has not yet been shown that the test would reduce the possibility of transmission of disease in fractionated plasma products.