One of the key elements of blood transfusion is the availability tof safe blood (products and components). A sustainable national blood programme assists in ensuring a safe and adequate blood supply. Globally, half of the annual blood donations are collected in high-income countries from various types of donors (voluntary unpaid, family/replacement and paid. Although, national blood supplies are >99.9% based on voluntary unpaid blood donations, 40 countries, however, collect only <25% from voluntary unpaid blood donors. In general, there are also wide differences in the efficiency of blood collection across countries and income groups. In a number of low-income countries, especially in the Sub Saharan African region, 20% of blood donations are not tested for transfusion-transmissible infections (HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and syphilis) and some of the tests used are not reliable, while this region is heavily affected by HIV. The minority of whole blood is separated into blood components in these countries also, which therefore limit their capacity to provide patients with the different blood components. And importantly, only a small number of low-income countries have a national haemovigilance system to monitor and improve the safety of the transfusion process.
Current Leadership
Martin Smid
Martin Smid, MD Medicine, PhD, MBA, has more than 25 years’ experience in blood bank management, transfusion medicine and coagulation. He is managing director of Sanquin Consulting Services and director of the Academic Institute IDTM. He has been a member of the ISBT WP Global Blood Safety from the start in 2010 and was chair from 2018 till 2023. In essence, the WP develops solutions for the low resource environment with already available knowledge. The stepwise access to safe plasma products initiative is a good example. Martin’s main responsibilities include international cooperation and knowledge sharing in international projects and the Management of Transfusion Medicine programme at the Graduate School of Medical Science of the University of Groningen. He has over 60 publications, mainly in the area of blood products and transfusion medicine. In 2024 he was awarded the AATM excellence award.
