The first Singapore-World Health Organization (WHO) workshop on the management of national blood programs opened here on Monday, with officials stressing the need of improving safety of blood supplies.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Singapore's Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Balaji Sadasivan hoped that the workshop will help the countries in the Western Pacific region change their policies toward blood donors
In some of the countries, after this course, and based on the WHO recommendations, they might have to change their policies with regard to donors, he said, adding that one of the standards that WHO is recommending is that all donors should be voluntary donors.
According to WHO, many developing countries still face major challenges in keeping a healthy store of blood and blood products. In addition, WHO estimates that 150,000 people die globally from preventable pregnancy-related complications due to the lack of safe blood supplies.
WHO representative to Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore Han Tieru said that some countries are still developing their programs, and that the policies and programs are not well developed or may not be in place, so now they're facing this challenge.
He said he hoped that this workshop for high-level health officials in the Western Pacific region can create some opportunities to exchange their experience and share the necessary information.
During the workshop's opening ceremony, the world health body launched a training CD on "Quality in Blood Collection" to provide valuable resources on blood services while the Singapore Red Cross launched the Red Cross Regional Resource Center for Blood Donor Programs.
Source: Xinhua
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