Blood D.E.S.E.R.T. Coalition

🩸 🌍 What do #BloodDeserts look like on the ground for people living within them? 📹 Hear the crisis described by Dr. Hassam Khalid, a general surgeon located in Lodwar, Kenya - one of the countless areas of the world where insufficient access to blood means even simple medical conditions and procedures become life-and-death situations, and millions of lives are lost unnecessarily each year as a result. Innovative strategies like #WalkingBloodBanks, #IntraoperativeAutotransfusion (IAT), and #DroneDelivery of blood products offer avenues of hope in improving access to blood where and when it is needed in these regions. Dr. Khalid represents one of the many frontline physicians and patients that the Blood D.E.S.E.R.T. Coalition has been working closely with to develop the research, policy, and hospital agendas necessary to implement these strategies and help reduce the cost of global blood deserts. 🎥 : Franco Sacchi #GlobalHealth #Transfusion

📣 📰 Members of the BDC recently published their findings on defining #blooddeserts and blood unavailability within 8 Empowered Action Group (EAG) states in Northern India using geospatial analysis, in BMJ Global Health! 🩸 🇮🇳 📄 Read it here: https://lnkd.in/g4yhK-zH 🌏 🏥 The authors found that only 61% of EAG states’ population had access to blood-equipped facilities within an hour and that blood availability rates (0.6 units per 1000 people) in these areas fell well below the standards of the The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery, the World Health Organization, and updated research on needs in India specifically (38 units per 1000 people)*. According to the authors, this study emphasizes the need to improve blood #transfusion access and address factors like rurality, geographic barriers, and limited resources hindering blood delivery in economically disadvantaged areas like India’s EAG states. They propose that a data-informed and nationally coordinated blood transfusion service should focus on increasing the overall availability of blood and blood products, aiming for higher donation rates, and reducing wastage. 🆎 #GlobalHealth #BloodTransfusion *Roberts N, James S, Delaney M, Fitzmaurice C. The global need and availability of blood products: a modelling study. The Lancet Haematology. 2019;6(12):e606-e615. doi:10.1016/S2352-3026(19)30200-5

“This can happen in big cities and little cities…these blood deserts. There's no question that I would rather transfuse blood components fully tested, but when the shelves are empty, it is not acceptable to shut the doors and say those patients are going to die.” 🩸 🖥️ 📣 The Blood D.E.S.E.R.T. Coalition recently held a webinar panel event on the promise and potential of Walking Blood Banks in helping tackle the crisis of #blooddeserts worldwide! ▶️ Watch the full recording of the event here: https://lnkd.in/gvHRHdBP Special thanks to The Program in Global Surgery and Social Change (PGSSC) at Harvard Medical School, United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), The Gillian Reny Stepping Strong Center for Trauma Innovation, and The Global Surgery Foundation for their support in holding this event! #BloodTransfusion #GlobalHealth

📣 ONE MORE DAY! Reminder to join us virtually tomorrow, November 25th, for our inaugural Blood Desert Coalition Webinar in partnership with United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and The Global Surgery Foundation! This event will feature an exciting discussion with Dr. John Holcomb, Kasper Juul Hedegaard of Eldon Biologicals A/S, and Dr. Andrew Cap, and will be moderated by Dr. Linda S Barnes DrPH, MHA. We will focus on the adaptation of walking blood banks - pre-screened pools of donors for on-demand blood transfusion - for use in resource-limited civilian contexts. Walking blood banks are a powerful tool to mitigate the critical shortages facing blood deserts, regions where insufficient access to blood results in millions of unnecessary deaths each year. 🩸 🌍 🖥️ No-cost registration link in the comments! #GlobalHealth #Webinar #BloodDeserts #Transfusion

📣 ONE WEEK TO GO! Reminder to join us virtually on November 25th for our inaugural Blood Desert Coalition Webinar in partnership with United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) and The Global Surgery Foundation This event will feature an exciting discussion with Dr. John Holcomb, kasper juul hedegaard of Eldon Biologicals A/S, and Dr. Andrew Cap, moderated by Dr. Linda S Barnes DrPH, MHA. We will focus on the adaptation of walking blood banks - pre-screened pools of donors for on-demand blood transfusion - for use in resource-limited civilian contexts. Walking blood banks are a powerful tool to mitigate the critical shortages facing blood deserts, regions where insufficient access to blood results in millions of unnecessary deaths each year. 🩸 🌍 🖥️ No-cost registration link in the comments! #GlobalHealth #Webinar #BloodDeserts #Transfusion

📣 Reminder to join us virtually on November 25th for our inaugural Blood Desert Coalition Webinar featuring an exciting discussion with Dr. John B. Holcomb, Kasper Hedegaard of Eldon Biologicals A/S, and Dr. Andrew Cap, moderated by Dr. Linda Barnes. This session will focus on the adaptation of walking blood banks - pre-screened pools of donors for on-demand blood transfusion - for use in resource-limited civilian contexts. Walking blood banks are a powerful tool to mitigate the critical shortages facing blood deserts, regions where insufficient access to blood results in millions of unnecessary deaths each year. 🩸 🌍 🖥️ No-cost registration link in the comments! #GlobalHealth #Webinar #BloodDeserts #Transfusion

📣 Join us virtually on November 25th for our inaugural Blood Desert Coalition Webinar featuring an exciting discussion with Dr. John B. Holcomb, kasper juul hedegaard of Eldon Biologicals A/S, and Dr. Andrew Cap, moderated by Dr. Linda Barnes. This session will focus on the adaptation of walking blood banks - pre-screened pools of donors for on-demand blood transfusion - for use in resource-limited civilian contexts as one potential strategy for mitigating the crisis of blood deserts worldwide: regions where insufficient access to blood results in millions of unnecessary deaths each year. 🩸 🌍 🖥️ Registration link in comments! #GlobalHealth #Webinar #BloodDeserts #Transfusion

A recently published viewpoint in NEJM argues that the access to and safety of blood transfusions 🩸 in LMICs and low-resource settings must stand as a major global health priority, suggesting that issues regarding donor recruitment, blood usage, and funding help perpetuate the worldwide blood crisis currently being faced. 📄 https://lnkd.in/gXBKmR-F Authors: Jeremy Jacobs, MD, MHS, Imelda Bates, Bridon M'baya, Quentin Eichbaum, Vernon Louw, Arwa Z. Al-Riyami FRCPC, MD, BSc, Tayou Tagny Claude, Silvano Wendel, Aaron A.R. Tobian, and Evan M. Bloch The authors identify three primary challenges that must be addressed in seeking to improve blood access and safety globally: an over-reliance on replacement and paid donors instead of voluntary/non-remunerated blood donors 🆎 , waste via inappropriate blood and transfusion use 💉, and an over-dependence on volatile, external funding sources as opposed to greater LMIC self-reliance in financing blood infrastructure 🏥 .

🚁🩸#Drone delivery of blood products represents another system-level solution for supplementing traditional blood infrastructure and getting blood to those who need it in #BloodDeserts. Implementing #DroneDelivery as one intervention within the context of a broader health system requires a variety of considerations at the community, academic, and legislative levels. 🔬 Research priorities highlighted by the Blood D.E.S.E.R.T. Coalition in The Lancet Global Health include assessing community perceptions and outcome metrics of drone intervention programs. ⚖️ Policy priorities largely involve engaging in collaboration with aviation regulators, academic institutions, drone developers, the community, and both the public and private sectors. #GlobalHealth #BloodTransfusion #HealthInnovation

💉🩸Intraoperative #autotransfusion (IAT) - collecting and reinfusing a patient’s own blood lost during a surgical procedure - is a technique with a variety of advantages over traditional transfusion from a typical blood donor. It is also one innovative strategy that can help alleviate blood deficits in the world’s #BloodDeserts, where traditional blood banks are severely strained or altogether non-existent. Prior to wider implementation of #IAT, 🔬 research priorities, as put forth by the Blood D.E.S.E.R.T. Coalition in The Lancet Global Health included seeking to better understand the appropriate use and safety profiles of autotransfusion devices in various contexts. From a ⚖️ policy standpoint, IAT use in low-resource contexts depends on further development of low-cost autotransfusion devices, meaning support and protections for innovations in medical technology are necessary. From a 🏥 hospital perspective, the coalition recommends developing standardized protocols for using IAT in emergencies and for monitoring outcomes for those who undergo autotransfusion. #Transfusion #GlobalHealth