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Reducing replacement donors in Sub-Saharan Africa: challenges and affordability.

Bates, Imelda ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0862-8199, Manyasi, G. and Lara, Antonieta M. (2007) 'Reducing replacement donors in Sub-Saharan Africa: challenges and affordability.'. Transfusion Medicine (Oxford, England), Vol 17, Issue 6, pp. 434-42.

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Abstract

In 1975, the World Health Assembly recommended that blood for transfusion should come from voluntary, non-remunerated donors; yet, in Africa, 75-80% of blood for transfusion still comes from hospital-based replacement donors. Although comprehensive economic data are scarce, evidence indicates that blood from voluntary donors recruited and screened at centralized transfusion centres, costs four to eight times as much as blood from a hospital-based, replacement donor system. Donor recruitment, quality assurance systems and distribution mechanisms in the centralized system are major reasons for the cost difference. There are concerns about the sustainability of centralized voluntary donor systems and their compatibility with the levels of health care that exist in many poor countries yet burdening patients' families with the responsibility of finding replacement blood donors will exacerbate poverty and reduce the safety of the blood supply. There are measures that can be introduced into hospital-based systems to improve safe blood supply in Africa but their effectiveness in different contexts needs to be evaluated.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: blood transfusion, Sub-Saharan Africa, affordability
Subjects: WA Public Health > Health Administration and Organization > WA 525 General works
WH Hemic and Lymphatic Systems > Hematologic Diseases. Immunologic Factors. Blood Banks > WH 460 Blood bank procedures
Faculty: Department: Groups (2002 - 2012) > Disease Control Strategy Group
Digital Object Identifer (DOI): https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3148.2007.00798.x
Depositing User: Tina Bowers
Date Deposited: 10 Mar 2011 14:51
Last Modified: 22 Oct 2019 08:21
URI: https://archive.lstmed.ac.uk/id/eprint/1767

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