Durable Partnerships for Safe Blood in Mali

Although a reliable and safe blood supply is a cornerstone of any healthcare system, a significant barrier to providing it is a lack of technical infrastructure and expertise. Today, approximately 80% of the worlds’ population has access to only 20% of the world’s blood supply. While many sub-Saharan Africa health facilities perform person-to-person transfusions as the need arises, few are able to collect, screen, store, and provide blood to meet the demand. The Ministry of Health (MOH) in Mali has a policy to create blood centers outside the capital of Bamako, yet resource limitations make implementation of the policy unrealistic. Physicians for Peace, Safe Blood for Africa, and Hôpital Nianankoro Fomba (HNF) have united to respond to a request by the MOH for a blood banking and testing center in the Ségou region. After two years of fact finding and the construction of a new blood center building, the country experienced a coup.  Rather than withdraw, partners re-committed, deploying equipment, supplies, and training in blood collection, storage, and transfusion.  Today, HNF is home to the Ségou region’s first blood center, with a trained and equipped staff and facility, serving a population that did not previously have access to a safe blood supply. The cornerstones of the program’s design are the engagement of local experts as trainers, community engagement, input from all partners, a robust evaluation plan, and the MOH’s commitment to sustain the blood center over the long term.