EBA Board Meeting Frankfurt

The approval of the amendment to the EBA Statutes and consequently the reappointment of Philippe Vandekerckhove as EBA President were the main outcomes of the Board Meeting Frankfurt. 21 of the 21 member states presented voted in favour of this. A small amendment in the transitional article in the EBA Statutes made it possible for Philippe Vandekerckhove to be re-elected as EBA President, as no successors had been nominated by the EBA Board.The approved statutes can be read on EBAse

Fainting e-Learning on line!

A collaboration between Syncopedia, ISBT and EBA resulted in an extensive open access e-learning module on fainting. The course consists of 9 tutorials with presentations, video material and interactive questions.ISBT and EBA will rebrand it for placement online with the option of receiving a certificate.

Syncopedia e-learning module

Updates from EC

The European Commission published some new documents recently:
1. Meeting of Competent authorities for blood and blood components (26-27 May 2016)
2. Summary of the 2015 annual reporting of serious adverse reactions and events for blood and blood components
3. Summary of the 2015 annual reporting of serious adverse reactions and events for tissues and cells (data collected in 2014)
4. Health-EU Newsletter - Vigilance in the Field of Substances of Human Origin, on the Vistart Project and featuring Board Member Giancarlo Liumbruno.

Survey outcomes:
needle dislodgment

For EBA Members, the outcomes of the ABO Needle Dislodgment survey are available on EBAse, shared with you under ABO Confidentiality agreement.

Survey Outcomes

EFS Objectives and Performance Contract '15 -'18

Text available in English translation

EFS renewed its objectives and has translated this document in English. This second Objective and Performance Contract for the period 2015-2018 is the main strategic document of the establishment, which outlines the commitments of both EFS and the French Government (Ministry of Health and Ministry of Budget) for that period. Through this, EFS outlines how it will address the main changes in the transfusion sector (among which the decrease in labile blood products use, and future competition for the supply of plasma for transfusion to hospitals).

EFS Objectives 2015 - 2018 [PDF,1MB]

EBA Position Papers

In Frankfurt, the Board approved the EBA Position Papers - these are available on EBAse for your information. If you would want to discuss these with Kari Arnako, please do not hesiate to contact the EBA Office.

Domaine Manuals available for EBA Members

If you would like your own copy of the DoMaInE (Donor Management In Europe), please ask the EBA Office for a copy in English, Dutch or Portuguese.

YES, send me the DOMAINE manual

Donation Interval: from 56 to 180 days?

In a recent study, Schotten et al studied the changes in iron metabolism in new and regular donors. The group concluded that: "for the vast majority of male donors, the donation interval of 56 days
is too short to recover from donation induced reduction in body iron stores." The group proposes to either prolonge the intervals for donors to 180 days, or to provide (low) dose of iron supplementation. Source: Blood First Edition Paper, prepublished online September 1, 2016; DOI 10.1182/blood-2016-04-709451

Videos RBDM: Now on EBAse

3 short videos have been made to further explain the Risk Based Decision Making Framework:
Video 1.1 | Video 1.2 | Video 2

Syphilis test Survey

EFS would like to draw attention to the Field Safety Notice (FSN on EBAse) of Trinity Biotech regarding their MicroTrak Syphilis TPHA PK test. EFS is considering the recommendation to retest donations, but, in absence of explanations of the abnormalities during manufacturing process and in absence of scientific data related to the impact on the sensitivity of the reagent, the risk assessment is a challenge. With attached survey of 9 questions they’d like to understand which EBA members are concerned by this FSN, and what is their approach. Responses welcomed until 28 October 2016.

Calender of Events

November
7-10 | ABO Face-to-Face meetings | Sydney, Australia
23-24 | Meeting EBA WG Tissues & Cells & Workshop heart valve banking (in collaboration with EATB & SEGB) | Hannover Germany

December
6 | EBA Executive meeting

2017
February
10-11 | DoHeCa Consortium Meeting | Amsterdam

March
2-3 | Technological, regulatory and organizational tools to produce plasma for fractionation” | IPFA Asia Workshop on Plasma quality and supply |Yogyakarta, Indonesia

April
6-7 | EBA Board meeting, Cardiff, Wales

May
16-17 | IPFA/PEI 24^th International Workshop on "Surveillance and Screening of Blood-borne Pathogens" | Zagreb, Croatia

September
11-12 | IPFA/BCA 3^rd Global Symposium on The Future for Blood and Plasma Donations | Atlanta, GA, USA
28-29 | EBA Board meeting, Pistoia, Italy

2018
April
12-13 | EBA Board meeting, Helsinki, Finland