The ISBT working party on rare blood,mission and achievements and its relationship to a rare blood programme in Asian countries /regions

The provision of Rare Blood for special purposes on a worldwide basis is now an accepted part of modern transfusion practice. The ISBT Working Party, working in conjunction with the International Blood Group Reference Laboratory in England as well as other organisations, plays a pivotal role in ensuring that adequate systems are in place to meet clinical needs. The contribution of Asia to the Rare Donor programme is at present small. Some of the reasons for the relatively low input to date include a lack of knowledge of the systems available, the stage of development of transfusion services in some countries and the general absence of well developed blood group serology reference Centres. Much remains to be done if Asia is to contribute significantly to the problems of blood supply to patients with a need for rare blood. However, there are already indications that more countries in Asia are at the stage of transfusion development that will permit them to be of more assistance to the International Rare Blood Programme and thereby better meet Asian and other international needs. Various recommendations will be presented to the Symposium for endorsement. The ISBT Working Party on Rare Blood will give any assistance that is required to facilitate improved methods that will improve the availability of Rare Blood internationally.

The provision of Rare Blood for special purposes on a worldwide basis is now an accepted part of modern transfusion practice. The ISBT Working Party, working in conjunction with the International Blood Group Reference Laboratory in England as well as other organisations, plays a pivotal role in ensuring that adequate systems are in place to meet clinical needs. The contribution of Asia to the Rare Donor programme is at present small. Some of the reasons for the relatively low input to date include a lack o...