| Summary: | In 1994, Guidelines for blood donor counselling on human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was published as a collaborative effort of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), the WHO Global Programme on AIDS, and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (16). These guidelines were developed in response to the specific challenges posed by the need to keep blood supplies free from HIV and provide support for blood donors who tested positive for HIV. There were also concerns that, due to the limited availability of HIV testing sites and the potential stigma associated with HIV, some donors might not disclose sensitive information on behaviours that increased their risk of HIV infection or might donate blood for the purpose of ascertaining their HIV status. These concerns are still true today. In the intervening years, diagnostic technologies and treatment options have advanced for HIV, as well as for hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV) and other infections, such as malaria and Chagas disease. It is now recognized that the scope of donor counselling should not only address HIV but should also encompass other transfusion-transmissible infection(s)(TTI) as well as medical conditions that might compromise donor health. The WHO Blood Transfusion Safety programme, in collaboration with CDC and the IFRC, therefore initiated a process to review and update the guidelines and expand their scope beyond HIV to include other TTI and donor health and safety issues
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