The National Blood Service Agency (NBSA) has partnered Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital (AKTH) and Universitätsmedizin Greifswald (UMG), Germany, on “Safe Blood Project” to enhance the safety and quality of blood transfusion services across Nigeria.
The Head of Media and Publicity, NBSA, Abdullahi Haruna, disclosed this in a statement on Friday in Abuja.
“This strategic project is designed to build national capacity through targeted training, hands-on skills development, systematic auditing, and sustainability-focused interventions.
“The first major activity under the initiative is the rollout of a Basic Blood Transfusion Course and a Clinical Haemotherapy Course, aimed at improving transfusion practices nationwide,” the statement read.
It added that 10 Nigerian healthcare institutions will be selected for participation through a competitive application process.
Haruna said successful institutions must be publicly funded, registered with the NBSA, have a functional transfusion committee, and demonstrate a clear institutional strategy for improving blood safety, including evidence of management support and prior training efforts.
He further said the training will strengthen knowledge and practice of safe blood transfusion, promote quality assurance, haemovigilance, and adherence to national guidelines, and build a nationwide network of trained transfusion professionals and mentors.
“Target participants include medical doctors, laboratory scientists and technicians, donor recruitment officers, phlebotomists, counsellors, and blood bank officers. “Each institution can nominate up to three fully funded participants representing various arms of their transfusion services, with room for additional self-funded attendees,” he explained.
Haruna further explained that the courses are fully sponsored, and selected participants will receive travel and accommodation stipends, while certificates will be jointly issued by NBSA, AKTH and UMG.
