[Clinical and biological qualifications for blood donations]

Three major steps are very important to increase transfusion safety: epidemiological step: donor selection; biological step: qualification of each blood donation; technological step: obtention of final product. The final therapeutical blood products must meet the requirements concerning their quality and safety, two factors with which the population is very demanding. These requirements can be ensured only if ethical, clinical epidemiological and biological parameters are clearly defined. The strict application of these criteria to each step of the transfusion process, from the blood donation to the final product, allows us to ensure the security of recipients with regard to known risks but also to anticipate other emergent risks.