HEPATITIS B (Notification of antibody status to blood donors)

Dr Koh Lam Son asked the Acting Minister for Health whether the Blood Transfusion Service will consider notifying all blood donors of their Hepatitis B antibody status as a service to them.

The Acting Minister for Health (Mr Yeo Cheow Tong): Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Blood Transfusion Service does not screen blood donors for their Hepatitis B antibody status. Only Hepatitis B antigen screening is carried out for each blood donation. The Hepatitis B antigen is the infective material which is responsible for the transmission of the disease. It must be excluded for the protection of our blood supply.

Donors who are Hepatitis B antigen positive are currently being notified of the results and advised to seek further follow-up and assessment from their own family doctor. The doctors in the Blood Trans- fusion Service are also available to provide medical advice, or the donors may wish to be followed up at the Communicable Diseases Centre.

Dr Koh Lam Son (Telok Blangah): Sir, would the Minister perhaps now consider doing the antibody test, since it is really part of the same test, as a service to blood donors?

Mr Yeo Cheow Tong: Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is not possible for the BTS to conduct this test for every donor. As the Member well knows, there are also 30 other blood tests that can possibly be carried out. For donors who wish to know the status of their blood chemistry, they can take advantage of the blood test services offered by the Ministry.

Dr Tan Cheng Bock (Ayer Rajah): Sir, is the Minister aware that about 36% of those who go for this antibody test have a positive antibody?

Mr Yeo Cheow Tong: Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, I do not recall the exact figure but I can assure the Member that it is not as high as 36%. Otherwise our loss of donors would be extremely high.

Dr Tan Cheng Bock: I ask this question, Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, because if you take this figure of 36%, or even slightly less, let us put it at 30% - I got this figure from the private laboratories - the amount of Medisave you are going to save is tremendous. Let me just give a little ---

Mr Deputy Speaker: Dr Tan, could you please ask your supplementary question?

Dr Tan Cheng Bock: Yes, I will ask the question. Is the Minister aware that each time an adult patient goes for this series of injections, he has to pay $120? Is he aware that for children, they have to pay $20 for each injection. That means it costs $60 for the series. They can make use of Medisave for these injections. If you assume that 36% are positive, then it is a substantial saving for those who want to make use of their Medisave. They need not have these injections. They could save that amount of money.

Mr Yeo Cheow Tong: Mr Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Member has asked a question on an entirely different topic but anyway I will answer him.

Members of the public who wish to take their Hepatitis B immunization shots are free to ask for a blood test on their antibody status, and it is freely available.