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BAXTER
INTERNATIONAL FOUNDATION AWARDS $60,000 TO IMPROVE BLOOD SAFETY IN DEVELOPING
COUNTRIES
Sanquin Blood Supply
Foundation to Use Grant to Increase Training for Blood Bank Professionals
in Developing Countries
DEERFIELD, Ill., October
24, 2002 -While blood transfusions save countless lives around the world
each year, unsafe handling of blood products can result in the spread
of infectious diseases, which can be fatal. This is a serious problem
facing developing countries where poor economic conditions contribute
to a lack of established standards, resources and training to ensure the
safe collection and processing of blood components.
To help improve blood transfusion safety in developing countries, The
Baxter International Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Baxter International
Inc., has awarded a $60,000 grant to the Sanquin Blood Supply Foundation.
The grant will be used to train blood banking professionals from developing
countries on the safe collection and processing of blood components.
The Sanquin Blood
Supply Foundation provides blood supplies to the Dutch people and promotes
safe transfusion medicine. As part of its philanthropic mission to the
developing world, Sanquin established the Institute for International
Development of Transfusion Medicine (IDTM) to improve the safety and practice
of blood transfusion medicine in developing countries. Sanquin will be
working with IDTM to deploy the training to blood banking professionals.
"Infectious diseases in underdeveloped countries are a serious problem,
and a lack of infrastructure, basic training and other resources for blood
banking professionals increases the risk of disease transmission through
blood and blood products," said Dr. Cees Smit Sibinga, director of
IDTM, Sanquin. "The Baxter International Foundation grant will help
to develop and implement the necessary training to support a safe and
efficacious blood supply in these countries." Sanquin has a formal
agreement with the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) where Dr
Cees Smit Sibinga also serves as the vice president of AABB's Consulting
Services Division.
According to the
World Health Organization, an estimated 43 percent of the blood collected
in developing countries is not tested for transfusion-transmissible infections,
such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which can cause AIDS, and
hepatitis. It also estimates that globally up to 10 percent of HIV infections
are from unsafe blood and blood products.
Sanquin and the IDTM
will work in partnership with the World Health Organization, national
governments and their blood bank and supply agencies in implementing modular
training programs to support blood safety. Blood banking representatives
involved in the collection and processing of blood will attend training
in Groningen in the Netherlands, where IDTM is headquartered. At completion
of training they will also be qualified to train others in their country,
and the Sanquin Division Blood Bank Noordoost in Groningen will serve
as a resource center for them. Participating countries include Armenia,
Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Estonia, Georgia, Jordan Serbia and Slovenia.
"The Sanquin
foundation and IDTM are providing an invaluable service that will help
to improve and save countless lives each year as a result of a safer blood
supply," said Patricia Morgan, executive director of The Baxter International
Foundation. "The Baxter International Foundation is pleased to support
their efforts to improve the quality of care in developing countries."
As the philanthropic
arm of Baxter International Inc., The Baxter International Foundation
helps to increase access to health care in the United States and other
countries. In 2001, foundation grants totaling $4.8 million improved access
to care for children, the uninsured and the elderly, helped prevent child
abuse and neglect, promoted health education, expanded education opportunities
for health-care providers, and helped victims of global disasters.
Baxter International
Inc. a global health care company that, through its subsidiaries, provides
critical therapies for people with life-threatening conditions. Baxter
employs approximately 75 people in the Netherlands at its facilities in
Utrecht.
FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION:
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- Media Contact:
- Tanya Tyska, Baxter, 847-948-3256
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