Mali

 

U.S.  Office

1025 Thomas Jefferson Street,, NW,

Suite 525East

Washington, DC 20007

Phone:  (202) 333-5304

E-mail:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

African Headquarters

Johannesburg, South Africa

E-mail: ingrid @ safeblood4africa.org 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Safe Blood for Africa Foundation™ (SBFA)commencedits intervention in Mali in 2012.  This was interrupted by civil disturbances until mid-2013.  Since that time there have been low levels of activity but a complete Blood Safety Assessment and planning events have taken place in Bamako, Ségou and Kita.  Mali is served by the Centre National de Transfusion Sanguine(CNTS) which is headquartered in Bamako with antennes in all regions under the regional hospitals.  The ongoing civil conflict prevents work north of Mopti or Gao.  The SBFA is dedicated to the establishment of sustainable Blood Services according to the guidelines and recommendations of WHO for developing countries.  Our operational structure, based on the Blood Safety Value Chain (BSVC) is a framework designed to demonstrate the connectedness between various components that are critical to making up a centrally coordinated National Blood Service (NBS) as advocated by WHO.

 

Long term Technical Assistance needs have been identified for funding through PEPFAR under a Cooperative Agreement with the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Through a partnership agreement with Physicians for Peace (PFP) we have assisted in the establishment of an improved Blood Testing Facility in Ségou.

Our Mission

The SBFA anticipates assisting Mali in strengthening the National Blood Transfusion Programme and CNTS with a focus on scaling up Blood Safety such as blood collection, testing and distribution through Technical Assistance related to the following five key technical areas:

  • Situational assessment and strategic planning;
  • Blood collection and donor mobilization including the conversion of Family Replacement Donors (FRD) to repeat Voluntary Non-Remunerated Blood Donors (VNRBD);
  • Blood testing and laboratory practice;
  • Quality Assurance including Monitoring & Evaluation; and
  • Training across the Blood Safety Value Chain.

Our Achievements:

Since we began in Mali, SBFA has

  • Completed a desktop analysis of Blood Safety in Mali;
  • Based on an infield situational assessment in Bamako, Ségou, and Kita developed a five-year Strategic Plan;
  • Conducted a Knowledge, Attitude and Perception (KAP) survey on Blood Donation;
  • Engaged the Ministry of Health to advocate support for the CNTS; and
  • Provided technical support and expertise to PFP in equipping the Ségou blood bank and training their staff in laboratory practice and donor mobilisation.

 

 

Future activities include:

  • Developing a plan to increase blood collection (Donor recruitment, motivation, retention) based on the results of the KAP;
  • Assisting with development of SOPs, documentation and training materials;
  • Develop donor screening, blood testing and processing plans;
  • Developing job descriptions & training/mentoring plans;
  • Extending Quality Systems and M & E training in Bamako, Ségou, and Kita as a pilot;
  • Introduce viable paper-based control & M&E systems; and
  • Continued advocacy for the development of the CNTS.
 
 

Projects