Rohit Shishodia
The World Health Organization (WHO) has informed that out of the approximately 118 million blood donations collected globally, 42% are collected in high-income countries, home to 16% of the world’s population.

“And, one out of four low-income countries do not test all donated blood, while 54% of countries do not have surveillance systems to securitize the supply chain from blood donor to patient,” added the UN agency.

To ensure the availability of safe blood, the WHO has announced a new action plan to speed up universal access to safe blood and blood products. The plan pulls together existing recommendations and recommends new improved ways of working. It is the start of a four-year collaborative effort to improve blood transfusion and blood-based therapies in all countries, said the UN agency.

The WHO has said that safe blood saves lives in all sorts of circumstances, not least in emergency and epidemic settings. Blood transfusion and blood products are critical in birth delivery for both the mother and baby and the survival and quality of life of patients suffering from life-threatening conditions such as haemophilia, thalassemia, immune deficiency and cancer; treating severe injuries and carrying out medical and surgical procedures.  

But progress in blood safety and availability has been slow in many parts of the world, placing patients’ safety at risk and putting undue pressure on health workers. Progress is also mostly restricted to developed countries.

The UN agency has said that challenges of safe and quality of donated blood include slow implementation of national blood policies and weak blood regulatory systems, insufficient number of voluntary blood donors (who are considered the safest donors); poor quality management of screening tests and blood grouping and compatibility testing.

To address these challenges, WHO has set out six key objectives for all countries and in particular those with weak blood systems

The objectives include appropriately structured, well-coordinated and sustainably resourced national blood systems, regulatory capacity to ensure the quality and safety of blood and functioning and efficiently managed blood services.

The other objectives include effective implementation of patient blood management to optimize transfusion practices, effective surveillance, haemovigilance and pharmacovigilance, supported by comprehensive and accurate data collection systems.

They also include partnerships, collaborations and information exchange to achieve key priorities and jointly address challenges and emerging threats at global, regional and national levels.