Blood safety concerns in the Eastern Mediterranean region

Blood transfusion is a life-saving component of health care systems. Nevertheless, it can also be a quick and easy method of exposing patients to risks, particularly the transmission of infectious agents to recipients. Despite substantial improvements in the safety of transfusion services worldwide, the presence of paid and replacement blood donors are still of cause concern for ensuring sustainable safe blood donations. Although the Eastern Mediterranean region consists of a heterogeneous group of countries that vary in their levels of development, they all share common concerns regarding blood safety. In the region, concerns regarding the spread of Hepatitis B and C through blood transfusion continue to exist. Therefore, there is an urgent need for further improvements in both organization and safety measures of blood transfusion activities in the region. Although establishing a centralized blood transfusion system might not be achievable in the short term in some of the countries in the region, the implementation of centralized test kit procurement, data collection, and donation testing could be considered feasible approaches.