INTERNATIONAL FORUM - AFRICA BLOOD-TRANSFUSION IN SOUTH-AFRICA

Sixty years of development have transformed previously small collectio n centres into major regional transfusion services. These organisation s collect and process nearly 900,000 units of blood annually from a do nor base of some 500,000 individuals with a male to female ratio of 5: 3. Three quarters of the donations are from a regular pool of largely white people. The latter has both a cultural and socio-economic compon ent that needs redress to meet expanding requests. The range of produc ts and quality of newer technologies, including those that are centred on aphereses are commensurate with first world standards. Quality con trol is universally monitored and registration falls under prevailing legislation. The future of these vitally important services will need to accommodate changing priorities in South Africa. Specific challenge s are a greater committment to primary health care, the rapidly rising incidence of HIV-positivity and centralisation of some facilities inc luding plasma fractionation. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.