The 2nd WHO Workshop on National Blood Management co-organized by WHO, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Singapore and Singapore Health Sciences Authority were held in Singapore from July 21-25, 2008. 24 officials From the Health Ministry of 15 countries and regions in Western Pacific Region and Southeast Asia, Directors and experts from National or Regional Blood Centers participated in the workshop. Yi Mei, Head of Blood Management Division, Medical Administration Department of Chinese Health Ministry, Wang Yi, Shi Xin and Zhou Zhengrong (Vice Director of Shanghai Red Cross Blood Center) attended this workshop.
WHO invited Dr. Lian Zhijie (Director of Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service Center), Dr. Diana Teo (Director of Singapore Transfusion Medicine Center), Dr. Peter Flanagan (Medical Director of New Zealand Blood Service), Dr. Yasmin Ayob (Adviser for Malaysia National Blood Center) and Dr. Soisaang Phikulsod (Director of Thailand Red Cross National Blood Center) as temporary consultants for the workshop, who, with Singapore experts, gave lectures to the attended members. The main topics of this workshop are safe and effective blood donor management, human resource management, development of transfusion medicine, blood storage management, choice of suppliers, clinical use of blood, information and data analysis and management, etc.
During the workshop, Yi Mei, representing Chinese Health Ministry, gave a special report on the government’s efforts to promote the development of Chinese blood transfusion services, which include making laws and regulations, promoting voluntary blood donation, standardizing blood center management, strengthening the staff training and enforcing quality control, etc. She also introduced the blood management and allocation during 5.12 Wenchuan earthquake, showing our ability to ensure blood supply in the circumstance of severe natural disasters. WHO officials, officials and experts from other countries highly approved the achievements and experiences of China in blood management.
Translated by Zhang Jiamin
