Response to article entitled, Health policy implications of blood transfusion-related human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 infection and disease

The authors of the article titled, Health policy implications of blood transfusion-related human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 infection and disease, attempt to make a case for the inclusion of human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) screening of blood donations in South Africa. Among other elements, a discussion on health policy should include the effectiveness of a proposed intervention within a health system, particularly in a resource-constrained setting. The routine screening of all blood donations, leucoreduction, or screening of first-time donors only, are the proposed interventions in the publication with respect to the HTLV-1 screening of donors, but a discussion of the effectiveness thereof in South Africa is not included.