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Background: Access to a safe, adequate blood supply has proven challenging in sub-Saharan Africa, where systemic deficiencies spanning policy, collections, testing, and posttransfusion surveillance have long been recognized. Progress in transfusion safety in the early 2000s was in large part due to intervention by the World Health Organization and other foreign governmental bodies, coupled with an influx of external funding., Study Design and Methods: A review of the literature was conducted to identify articles pertaining to blood safety in sub-Saharan Africa from January 2009 to March 2018. The search was directed toward addressing the major elements of the blood safety chain, in the countries comprising the World Health Organization African region. Of 1380 articles, 531 met inclusion criteria and 136 articles were reviewed., Results: External support has been associated with increased recruitment of voluntary donors and expanded testing for the major transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs). However, the rates of TTIs among donors remain high. Regional education and training initiatives have been implemented, and a tiered accreditation process has been adopted. However, a general decline in funding for transfusion safety (2009 onwards) has strained the ability to maintain or improve transfusion-related services. Critical areas of need include data collection and dissemination, epidemiological surveillance for TTIs, donor recruitment, quality assurance and oversight (notably laboratory testing), and hemovigilance., Conclusion: Diminishing external support has been challenging for regional transfusion services. Critical areas of deficiency in regional blood transfusion safety remain. Nonetheless, substantive gains in education, training, and accreditation suggest durable gains in regional capacity., (© 2018 AABB.)

Introduction: Blood donor selection is important to ensure the safety of both donors and recipients. There is a paucity of data on reasons for blood donor deferral in Ivory Coast. The aim of this study was to identify the reasons for predonation deferral at a blood collection site at General Hospital, Yopougon Attié in Abidjan., Materials and Methods: The investigators conducted a retrospective audit of data pertaining to donor deferral for blood donors that presented to the general hospital of Yopugon Attié from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2008., Results: A total of 10,694 prospective blood donors, presented over the study period, and 24,363 attempts to donate were registered. The majority were repeat blood donors (77.4%). A total of 2618 (10.8%) donors were deferred. The most frequent reason for deferral was a low hemoglobin level (42.5%), with females constituting the majority of those deferred. The second most frequent reason for deferral was a reported change of or new sexual partner (34.3%); male donors were predominant in this group. Additional reasons for deferral included short interdonation interval (4.6%) and reactivity for a screened biomarker (2.3%)., Conclusion: Although the rates for permanent and temporary deferral rates are similar between the Ivory Coast and high-middle income countries, the causes and demographics differ. The reasons for exclusion are preventable through awareness and education of prospective blood donors., (© 2012 American Association of Blood Banks.)