EU Stakeholders Discuss Policies in Support of Blood Sustainability
Over 75 participants including national health authorities, EU institutions (European Parliament, European Commission), industry, patient organisations, healthcare professionals, and others came together on October 11 in a multi-stakeholder meeting to discuss policies and practices that would support blood sustainability in Europe, against a current backdrop that is seeing the revision of the Blood, Tissues and Cells Directive.
Chronic, multi-transfused thalassaemia patients were represented by Dr Androulla Eleftheriou, TIF Executive Director, who highlighted the need for ‘’more robust oversight and stringent coordination at the national but most importantly the EU level to ensure the safety, quality and adequacy of blood’’. The revision of the Directive, Dr Eleftheriou continued ‘‘should provide an opportunity to see more harmonization of quality provided by blood transfusion services across each EU Member State’’.
