Blood donation in Chile: Replacement and volunteer donors

In recent years, the Chilean Health Ministry has developed a strategy in order to improve the safety and opportunity of the blood supply through the creation of a nationally co-ordinated blood transfusion service, centralizing collection management, production and testing in three Blood Centers along the country and promoting voluntary, regular, blood donation. In 2007, a comprehensive study of the situation of Blood Transfusion Services in Chile concluded that several critical factors make it difficult to achieve a safe and adequate access to blood and blood components in the country. For example there is a low donation rate (14.3/1000 inhabitants), very low percentage of voluntary donors (10%), excessive amount of blood banks collecting, processing and testing blood revealing an atomized non-centralized system, lack of a national IT system and insufficient national standards. There are two regions in the country, Bio Bio and Valparaíso, where Regional Blood Centers are located, that have put in place several strategies in order to obtain better results.