Polish immigrants boost UK blood stock
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A Polish-language newspaper based in the UK called for a strike on Thursday last week to show the importance of immigrants to the British economy - but another movement online asked Poles to donate blood to show good will rather than withhold their labour.
So thousands signed up for the Facebook event and went to donate blood at NHSBT donation centres; on Twitter the hashtag #polishblood was promoted and lots of Polish posted pictures of themselves donating. The NHSBT used this opportunity to turn these first donors into loyal donors:
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Although the European Commission says that there are no definitive plans yet for a Directive Revision, EBA is still moving ahead to be prepared. This upcoming Board meeting, there will be extra focus on the Blood Directive.
The item would be most effective if all Board Members were able to actively think ahead about national issues which could benefit from a European Directive Revision!
Thursday Break out Session: reception style
As the Dutch say, to combine the useful with the pleasant, we've organised a break out session in the form of a drinks reception just after the Board meeting. The session on Thursday is aimed at geting more input on how the blood Directive influences your daily practice: any hurdles you are currently tackling because of the Blood Directive? What could be changed for the better? What should stay? And if we were to start afresh: any long-cherished wishes to add to a new Directive?
Each break out sub-group will be chaired by a member of the EU Directive Revision WG.
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EBA Reception held in Brussels, 19 April 2015
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Friday: wrap-up and in depth
On Friday morning you will hear the summary report on the session the day before and we'll discuss priorities for a directive recast in a presentation by the EU Directive Revision Chair Nicolas Bondonneau. He will also report on the kick-off teleconference of the EU Directive revision WG, which is taking place today on September 10th.
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After the coffee-break we'll have Nick Fahy (pictured right), currently consultant and former EC-civil servant, explain to the Board the workings of the European Instititions and how the legislative process works. He'll answer questions as to when EBA can influence the legislative process and how to best make ourselves heard in Brussels.
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A friendly reminder and a couple of thoughts
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I’d like to take this opportunity to share a couple of thoughts with you on the development of the Eurobloodpack 2 project. They came up in the current survey (a co-production between EBA, NHSBT, EFS) called “Supply, Delivery and Tracking of Blood bags” (being circulated with a deadline on Sept. 30, and available here) and:
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Alternatives to PVC/DEHP:
Even though it is unlikely that the complete migration from PVC to PVC Free blood will happen in a very near future, due to sustainable alternatives not yet identified, a meeting between EBA and the PVC Free Blood Bag project group (http://www.pvcfreebloodbag.eu/) is being planned in October in order to share the latest project results including the preliminary in vitro tests results of a new alternative.
Opportunity for cooperation will also be assessed. Please do let me know if you would like to attend this meeting in person or via e-means.
Note also that a webinar is also organized by the PVC Free Blood Bag project group on the 22nd of October for those who wish to get a better understanding of the overall PVC Free Blood Bag project.
More information can be found on this site
RFID Technology
RFID technology is not considered to be a new technology; it’s use is widespread over the past 10 years (asset tracking, retailing, etc), but integration of this technology into the transfusion medicine practices is still new.
In this context you might be interested by the following:
- RFID FAQs: RFID Journal “What Is RFID?” 2012.
- Guidelines (pdf) for the Use of RFID Technology in Transfusion Medicine / ISBT / April 2010 (still valid and pretty extensive)
If you are interested in this subject and would like to know more, a European RFID Congress will be held on 05/06 October 2015 in Marseille/France. More information can be found here (http://www.rfid-congress.com/en/)
I will close this blog by emphasizing the importance of receiving your answers to the survey mentioned above. The outcomes will allow EBA, NHSBT and EFS to draft a best practices analysis and also recommendations for the benefits of all EBA Members and partners!
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EC President J.C. Juncker reshuffled some of the Directors-General at several departments, due to the Commission’s mobility rules which dictate that DG’s should rotate every 5 years. Also DG SANTE now has a new Director. His name is Xavier Prats Monné (pictured left): a Spanish National who completed his primary and secondary education in Italy and is fluent in Spanish, English, French, Italian and Catalan. Before leading SANTE, he was a DG at Education and Culture.
Also new at DG SANTE is the Policy Officer for blood: Deirdre Fehily. Some might know her through previous jobs for NHS or ISS in Italy.
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On the political website politico.eu, they made an EU Power Graph, showing the Directors-General, and SANTE with Prats Monné in the upper left corder, with average political power, but little spending power...
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Willemijn Kramer
In a series on EBA's PowerTools, I'd like to highlight over the coming period some of the tools that EBA has which could help you. In this edition: the Consultation or, as it's called within the Alliance of Blood Operator, the Knowledge Exchange.
The consultation is a bit of a two-edged sword: it poses a burden to answer for the members, but it can also be a wealth of information for a specific member at the right moment, and for other members as well! We as staff have to make sure that the burden is minimized and the effect maximized.
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Some years ago, the staff put down some ground rules for the consultation, that we still stick by:
- The requester of a consultation needs to collate the information, provide a summary and prepare a presentation to the Board
- The Executive Director will review the questionnaire and assess whether the questions do not pose too big a burden and are not ambiguous.
- The EBA Office will send out surveys
- When it concerns an ABO-questionnaire, the EBA office filters the relevant surveys and if possible, answers for the whole of Europe in one go.
These guidelines It makes sure the emphasis of the work lies with the organisation benefiting from the information and at the Board Meeting all members will be presented with outcomes.
Pending consultations are:
And at the Board meeting, the following consultations will be presented:
- Recruitment of new whole blood donors
- Pathogen Inactivation
If you have a topic for a consultation or want to know whether a topic has been surveyed already, please do not hesitate to contact the EBA Office. And of course we are curious about your thoughts on the consultations and how they work - do provide us with your input!
Best regards, Willemijn
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The Manuscript 'Blood Donor Selection in EU Directives: room for improvement', authored by Wim de Kort and others on the possible changes to the 2004/33/EC Directive with regard to Donor Selection, has been approved for publication by Blood Transfusion and will be published in its next edition. When it becomes available, a link will be circulated.
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The completion of EBAse is getting nearer and nearer, and we're all busy adding information and finishing up the looks to make sure the members' site will be ready for the Board Meeting!
This members' site is based on Microsoft's Sharepoint technology. This means that it has the look and feel of a website, but it has some options and limitations in built.
to prepare all for the possibilities, EBA's organised several training sessions for different target groups.
If you are a....
Board Member or Executive Member:
• EBA| Training EBAse | 14 September 2015 | Executives and Board Members | 17.00pm
• EBA | Training EBAse | 21 September 2015 | Executives and Board Members | 17.00pm
Working Group member
• EBA | Training EBAse | 5 October 2015 | WG members | 17.00pm
• EBA | Training EBAse | 20 November 2015 | WG members | 13.00pm
Working Group chair
• EBA| Training EBAse | 10 September 2015 | WG chairs | 17.00pm
General audience
• EBA | Training EBAse | 17 November 2015 | 17.00pm
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ASSISTANT PROFESSOR (TENURE TRACK) in the field of Transfusion and Cell Therapy - Finland
(pre-announcement)
The position is located at the Faculty of Medicine with a possibility to negotiate a part-time position at the Finnish Red Cross Blood Service (FRC BS). The applicant will carry out and supervise scientific research, provide research-based teaching and follow scientific progress and take part in societal interaction in his/her field and in international collaboration.
More information on the position and the requirements can be read in this document.
The tenure track position overview, instructions for filling the position as well as instructions and models for drafting the list of publications will be announced in autumn 2015.
Further information about the FRC BS position may be obtained from CEO Martti Syrjälä (martti.syrjala@veripalvelu.fi) or Research Director Jukka Partanen (jukka.partanen@veripalvelu.fi).
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September
- EBA | kick-off teleconference EU Directive Revision WG | 10 September | 14.30 - 16.00
- EBA | EBAse training session WG chairs | 10 September | 17.00-18.00
- EBA | Training EBAse | 14 September 2015 | Executives and Board Members | 17.00pm
- DGTI | 48th Annual Meeting of the DGTI | 15-18 September 2015 | Basel, Switzerland
- EBA| Training 2 EBAse | 21 September 2015 | Executives and Board Members | 17.00pm
- EBA | CoCo Meeting for WG chairs | 23 September 2015 | Berne, Switzerland, Contact Willemijn Kramer
- EBA | 36th Board Meeting | 24-25 September 2015 | Berne, Switzerland, Contact Willemijn Kramer
- IPFA/BCA 2nd Global Symposium on "The Future for Blood and Plasma Donations" | 28-29 September 2015 | Fort Worth (Dallas), TX, USA
October
- IFBDO and Danish Blood Donor Organization | International Seminar | 2 October | Copenhagen, Denmark
- EBA | Training EBAse | 5 October 2015 | WG chairs + members | 17.00pm
- EBA | 28 October | EBA Executive Teleconference | 11.00am CET
November
- EBA | Second PaBloE meeting for subgroup chairs | 18 November 2015 | frankfurt, Germany
- EBA | Training EBAse | 17 November 2015 | general training | 17.00pm
- EBA | Training EBAse | 20 November 2015 | WG chairs + members | 13.00pm
December
April 2016
37th Board Meeting | 7 - 8 April 2016 | Zagreb, Croatia | Contact Willemijn Kramer
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