Blood safety in Ethiopia: policy, practice and regulation

Aim To examine blood safety policy, practice and regulation in Ethiopia, identifying ongoing challenges and facilitators. Background As Ethiopia transitions to lower-middle-income status, it faces increased demands on its health system. Accessible safe blood for transfusion is a key requirement and Ethiopia aims to achieve international accreditation of blood safety. Methods Literature and policy review of blood safety and regulation in Africa, focused on Ethiopia. Data collection included searching of six databases, purposive hand-searching of reference lists and websites and stakeholder consultation. Data were screened and a narrative synthesis was conducted. Findings Ethiopia has made significant progress in increasing numbers of blood banks and voluntary blood donors. Endemic transfusion transmissible infections, adequate funding and effective haemovigilance remain challenging, and an enforceable regulatory framework is not yet in place. This is due to resource constraints (particularly of trained staff) compounded by challenging contextual issues. Conclusions Reaching international standards of blood safety is only achievable with adequate resourcing and planning, including increased government funding and international support.