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Background and Objectives: Implementation of national haemovigilance programmes has significantly improved donor and recipient safety. Recently, India completed a decade of successful implementation of its national haemovigilance programmes. The national programme is still enrolling more blood centres. This study aimed to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of Haemovigilance Programme of India (HvPI), thereby providing valuable insights for future initiatives. Materials and Methods: The National Coordinating Centre (NCC) conducted a multi‐centre, cross‐sectional questionnaire‐based survey among the reporting blood centres (January to April 2022). The survey consisted of three sections with a total of 27 questions focusing on the demographics of the participant blood centre as well as the impact on the recipient and donor haemovigilance. The survey was sent to 733 blood centres regularly reporting to the donor and recipient HvPI through Donor and Hemovigil Software. Results: Total 296 responses were received (response rate of 40.4%) with maximum participation of private non‐teaching hospital‐based blood centres (33.8%). After their involvement in recipient HvPI, 85.7% of the respondents reported changes in their blood centre's work procedures, with the maximum improvement seen in the documentation of transfusion reactions (92.7%). Out of the 278 respondents who participated in donor HvPI, 89.9% (250) found that their blood centre's policies or work process changed as a result of their involvement in the programme. Conclusion: In conclusion, our haemovigilance programme facilitates national collaboration for learning and sharing experiences, leading to improved policies and practices in reducing adverse reactions for both recipients and donors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Section 5 The main challenge in maintaining a transfusion education programme for personnel who administer transfusions in our hospital is organizing the schedule of the staff to attend the transfusion education. Section 2: Transfusion education for personnel who administer transfusions The following types of transfusion education are available for personnel who administer transfusions in our hospital/health service: Independent e-learning. Section 3 Yes, e-learning/online transfusion education is used for personnel who administer transfusions in our hospital/health service. e-learning/online transfusion education has been used for 9 years in our hospital. Section 3 Yes, e-learning/online transfusion education is used for personnel who administer transfusions in our hospital/health service. e-learning/online education has been used for approximately 5 years in our nursing department. [Extracted from the article]

E-learning/online transfusion education A total of 12 of 14 respondents confirmed the use of e-learning platforms in their hospitals/health services for transfusion education (Table 4). The Serious Hazards of Transfusion 2021 report highlighted the importance of providing training and regular education for healthcare professionals involved in the transfusion process to achieve safe transfusion [[1]]. Transfusion education for personnel who administer transfusions The majority of the hospitals/health services require mandatory transfusion education for personnel who administer transfusions, while four hospitals/health services have optional education (Table 2). [Extracted from the article]

Background and Objectives: The COVID‐19 pandemic brought about changes to daily life as measures to contain the spread of the virus increased across the world. The aim of this survey was to assess the psychological impact of the pandemic on young professionals (YPs) in transfusion medicine. Materials and Methods: A cross‐sectional web‐based survey was distributed electronically to ISBT members inviting YPs (≤40 years) to participate. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software. Results: Two hundred and fifty‐nine YPs completed the survey, including 107 clinicians/physicians and/or nurses. Almost half of the YPs (52.5%) indicated increased stress levels and 15.4% indicated symptoms of depression. YPs highlighted the loss of social engagement (59.1%) and increased pressure from information seen on media (35.5%) as factors negatively impacting their psychological wellbeing. Further, 20.8% expressed increased economic stress resulting from concerns about job security. Almost half of the YPs indicated that their organization provided moderate/occasional holistic support to them and their families. Sixty percent and 74.4% of YPs reported increased workload and staff absence due to COVID‐19 infection, respectively. Only half of clinicians/physicians and/or nurses indicated that they often had sufficient personal protective equipment. The majority of these (76.6%) had family/household members living with them, and 61% indicated that they were significantly worried about infecting them because of the nature of their work. Conclusion: COVID‐19 had a major impact on the well‐being of YPs working in transfusion medicine. Measures are required to ensure that YPs are protected and mentally supported while undertaking their duties in current and future pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequently, haematology patients have ongoing care via haematology outpatient clinics with transfusion and specialty malignancy nurse care coordinators monitoring patients and organizing transfusions in haematology outpatient clinics. Home-based transfusion has been used in a number of settings around the world since the 1970s [1], in patients with haemophilia [2], haematological and oncological malignancies and chronic medical conditions [3-11]. For patients on a hospital/clinic-based chronic transfusion program, are you able to collect samples for pre-transfusion testing in the community to reduce the number of visits for transfusion? QUESTION 6 Medical oversight Is the medical practitioner providing oversight to the transfusion, a palliative care physician, transfusion program physician/haematologist, family medicine physician or are there no specific requirements?. [Extracted from the article]

Growing evidence suggests that ABO blood group may play a role in the immunopathogenesis of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection, with group O individuals less likely to test positive and group A conferring a higher susceptibility to infection and propensity to severe disease. The level of evidence supporting an association between ABO type and SARS‐CoV‐2/COVID‐19 ranges from small observational studies, to genome‐wide‐association‐analyses and country‐level meta‐regression analyses. ABO blood group antigens are oligosaccharides expressed on red cells and other tissues (notably endothelium). There are several hypotheses to explain the differences in SARS‐CoV‐2 infection by ABO type. For example, anti‐A and/or anti‐B antibodies (e.g. present in group O individuals) could bind to corresponding antigens on the viral envelope and contribute to viral neutralization, thereby preventing target cell infection. The SARS‐CoV‐2 virus and SARS‐CoV spike (S) proteins may be bound by anti‐A isoagglutinins (e.g. present in group O and group B individuals), which may block interactions between virus and angiotensin‐converting‐enzyme‐2‐receptor, thereby preventing entry into lung epithelial cells. ABO type‐associated variations in angiotensin‐converting enzyme‐1 activity and levels of von Willebrand factor (VWF) and factor VIII could also influence adverse outcomes, notably in group A individuals who express high VWF levels. In conclusion, group O may be associated with a lower risk of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and group A may be associated with a higher risk of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection along with severe disease. However, prospective and mechanistic studies are needed to verify several of the proposed associations. Based on the strength of available studies, there are insufficient data for guiding policy in this regard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]