The South African National Blood Service (SANBS) says it fears people will stop donating blood after one of its employees told a donor recently that she was HIV-positive as a “joke”.
Nicolette Duda, communications officer for the SANBS, told the Mail & Guardian Online on Wednesday: “We definitely don’t want this thing in the media now.”
Duda said she feared the negative publicity would dissuade people from donating blood.
The Witness newspaper reported the tele-recruiter at the blood service as saying he had done it to “test [the donor’s] reaction”.
The donor, a 19-year-old student, said after the incident: “It was a very cruel joke. HIV/Aids is a serious matter that one cannot joke about.”
“He said it was the blood bank and he had very bad news: I was HIV-positive,” she said. “I was utterly shocked and burst into tears, and said it couldn’t be true. Then he said it wasn’t really true, he just wanted to see how I’d react if he said something like that.”
The blood service makes use of tele-recruiters to keep in touch with blood donors. The tele-recruiters inform the donors of their next donation date and where they can donate.
Duda said tele-recruiters need to have a grade-12 qualification and undergo a two-week training programme during which they “shadow” an employee. She said they must also have good communication and people skills.
“It doesn’t take rocket science to pick up the phone. You don’t need to have a doctorate to be in a call centre,” she said.
The tele-recruiter in question has been suspended.
The SANBS has not fired the tele-recruiter because it fears that he will take it to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). “He can take us to the CCMA if we fire him,” said Duda.
“This thing has never happened before. This was an isolated incident. It does not happen to SANBS on a regular basis. [But] unfortunately it happened, and it’s somebody that stepped out of line and this girl went to the media,” she said.
“I think it was out of anger. Definitely out of anger,” said Duda when the M&G Online asked why she thought the woman would want to report the matter to the media.
“It sounded as if she regretted it [afterwards]. But obviously it was too late,” she added.
Duda said the tele-recruiter “knows that it was a mistake” to joke with a donor, which was definitely “a stupid thing to do”.
She said the donor has “no hard feelings” and “might go and donate blood again” when she gets over her ordeal.
“We regret the incident,” she said, and the SANBS has asked “all our people who work with the public to respect the fact that HIV/Aids is not something to joke about. We’ve got to respect other people’s feelings in this regard.”
According to a statement issued by the SANBS, blood donors are never contacted telephonically to inform them of the results of their donation if an irregularity has been found.
“The medical division of SANBS sends out a letter to those donors in whose blood an irregularity has been found and they receive this before their next donation is due.
“The specific irregularity is never mentioned in the letter. The donor is advised to see his/her doctor or health-care professional, as SANBS is aware of the fact that a person needs counselling before he/she undergoes an HIV/Aids test and that the individual should receive the results in person.”