Strengthening Blood Regulatory Systems to Tackle Africa's Unmet Needs for Blood and Blood Products.

BACKGROUND: Assuring the quality and safety of blood and blood components is an essential element of health care in all countries and requires government commitment and legal frameworks. Ineffective regulation of blood and blood components has far-reaching consequences that are not limited to the affected countries but also have extensive global implications.

SUMMARY: In this review, we summarize the work of the project BloodTrain funded by the German Ministry of Health within the framework of the Global Health Protection Programme to strengthen regulatory structures in Africa that are imperative to guarantee the improved availability, safety, and quality of blood and blood products.

KEY MESSAGES: Intense interaction with the stakeholders in African partner countries lead to first measurable successes in the strengthening of blood regulation, as shown here for hemovigilance.