Expert panel meeting for African Blood Donor Recruitment Guideline

07/06/24

On 10 May, CEBaP and the International Cooperation Department of Belgian Red Cross hosted a meeting at the Rwanda Red Cross headquarters in Kigali. A panel consisting of 11 experts from academia, national blood services and Red Cross Red Crescent National Societies from six countries in sub-Saharan Africa (Benin, Burundi, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda and Uganda) discussed the draft version of the Blood donor recruitment in Africa guideline. This guideline aims to help identify the most effective blood donor recruitment and retention strategies in sub-Saharan Africa. Once developed, this guideline will be used to train blood donor recruiters, both inside and outside of the Red Cross Red Crescent Societies. In this way, blood services will know where to best focus their efforts, particularly in resource-constrained contexts.

CEBaP researcher Jorien Laermans presented the underlying scientific evidence (summarised in 14 evidence summaries) and the methodology used to translate the evidence into recommendations, and supported consensus decision-making during the meeting. The expert panel discussed the appropriateness of the recommendations and the manual until consensus was reached. In addition, the experts helped to identify potential barriers and facilitators relating to feasibility, acceptability and equity to improve the dissemination and implementation of the guideline in the specific local African contexts.

Based on the feedback of the expert panel, the manual will be further adapted. These modifications will be discussed during the following expert panel meeting in September 2024.