Brussels, 22nd June 2017
The meeting took place at the Centre A. Borschette with the participation of the representatives of the European Commission DG SANTE, members of the Substances of Human Origin Expert Group, delegations of EU member States and invited stakeholders.
In addition to the IFBDO, stakeholders included the European Blood Alliance (EBA), the Plasma Protein Therapeutics Association (PPTA), the International Plasma Fractionation Association (IPFA), the International Patient Organisation for Primary Immunodeficiencies (IPOPI), the European Haemophilia Consortium (EHC) and the International Haemovigilance Network (IHN).
Each stakeholder was given the chance to share his views on the agenda topic of “blood and blood components donor protection”, with the aim to identify the points of major common concern.
IFBDO presented the cooperation and training projects that is currently promoting in many regions and underlined the importance of shared guidelines on this topic. Moreover, it stressed the point that education and retention of blood donors is a crucial way to ensure safety and stability of the blood transfusion system by protecting its main actors. To that end, the Federation and its member Associations can provide a know-how that might be even more effective than the actions put in place by public authorities.
The main issues underlined during the meeting will be further discussed within the evaluation and revision process of the blood and tissues and cells EU legislation, with the possibility of a larger contribution from the stakeholders.