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. 2012;9(9):e1001309.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001309. Epub 2012 Sep 11.

External financial aid to blood transfusion services in sub-Saharan Africa: a need for reflection

Fereydoun Ala  1 , Jean-Pierre Allain, Imelda Bates, Kamel Boukef, Frank Boulton, James Brandful, Elizabeth M Dax, Magdy El Ekiaby, Albert Farrugia, Jed Gorlin, Oliver Hassall, Helen Lee, André Loua, Kathryn Maitland, Dora Mbanya, Zainab Mukhtar, William Murphy, Ohene Opare-Sem, Shirley Owusu-Ofori, Henk Reesink, David Roberts, Oscar Torres, Grace Totoe, Henrik Ullum, Silvano Wendel
Affiliations

External financial aid to blood transfusion services in sub-Saharan Africa: a need for reflection

Fereydoun Ala et al. PLoS Med. 2012.

Abstract

Jean-Pierre Allain and colleagues argue that, while unintended, the foreign aid provided for blood transfusion services in sub-Saharan Africa has resulted in serious negative outcomes, which requires reflection and rethinking.

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Conflict of interest statement

FB is Chair of the Board of Medact (http://www.medact.org), a registered charity dedicated to the wellbeing of people affected by war, poverty and environmental damage. FB is also consultant emeritus (unpaid) at the Southampton Centre of NHS Blood and Transplant, the arm of the NHS responsible for what used to be called the Blood Transfusion Service for England, and is occasionally called on for advice on blood donor care. All other authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Proportion of blood and blood components prepared in nine sub-Saharan African countries.
The first five countries (Congo to Niger) do not receive affluent country support, whereas the remaining four countries do. Information was assembled from references ,,. RCC, red cell concentrate; PC, platelet concentrate.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2008) Progress toward strengthening blood transfusion services–14 countries, 2003–2007. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 57: 1273–1277. - PubMed
    1. Bates I, Chapotera GK, McKew S, van den Broek N (2008) Maternal mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa: the contribution of ineffective blood transfusion services. BJOG 115: 1331–1339. - PubMed
    1. WHO (2010) Guidelines for the treatment of malaria. 2nd edition. Geneva: WHO.

MeSH terms