The National Blood Service Zimbabwe (NBSZ) was awarded an ISO 9001-2000 certificate on Wednesday to become the first national blood service organization to receive such an accolade in Africa.

In a speech read on his behalf at the award ceremony, Health and Child Welfare minister David Parirenyatwa said NBSZ had set history in Africa by being recognized internationally for providing good quality blood.

"The ceremony is a landmark achievement which sees the NBSZ as the first national blood service to achieve certification of the ISO 9001-2000 standard in Africa," he said.

He said the organization was also the first to be recognized as the World Health Organization (WHO) collaborating center for blood transfusion in 1994.

These achievements, he said, meant an improvement to the country's health delivery system.

Speaking at the same ceremony, WHO official Sam Omar said the UN body would continue to support sustainable national blood safety programs to ensure provision of safe, high quality blood and blood products.

Source: Xinhua