The Safe Blood for Africa Foundation™ (SBFA), a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit organization, draws an extensive experience gained from efforts to provide technical assistance (TA) for the establishment of fully functioning, sustainable, centrally coordinated, autonomous /semiautonomous national blood services in countries in accordance with WHO prescribed best practices. The SBFA is dedicated to the establishment of sustainable Blood Services according to the guidelines and recommendations of the 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) advocated by the WHO.

Long term technical assistance needs have been identified for funding through two funding mechanisms: the PEPFAR Cameroon Country Operational Plan 2012 through a CDC/MoPH Cooperative agreement and a blood safety headquarters funded technical assistance cooperative agreement through Safe Blood for Africa Foundation to provide blood safety services to Cameroon.

Our Mission

SBFA is expected to assist Cameroon in the setting up of the National Blood Transfusion Program with a focus on scaling up of blood transfusion services such as blood collection, testing and distribution. SBFA will provide technical assistance services related to the following five key technical areas:

• Technical Requirement #1: Situational assessment
• Technical Requirement #2: Blood collection
• Technical Requirement #3: Blood testing 
• Technical Requirement # 4: Quality assurance including (M & E)
• Technical Requirement #5: Training

SBFA shall start at the following hospitals: 1). University Teaching Hospital Yaoundé, 2). Yaoundé Central Hospital, 3). Laquintinie Hospital, Douala, 4). Regional Hospital Bamenda, and 5). Regional Hospital Annex Buea. These blood banks will be expected to serve as reference blood transfusion centres as it is indicated in the National Blood Program.

Our Achievements:

During the first 6 months, SBFA

• Developed a desktop analysis of blood safety in Cameroon
• Conducted an infield situational assessment of five hospitals in four regions of Cameroon
• Conducted a Good-Average-Poor analysis
• Developed a draft of strategic plan for blood safety in Cameroon
• Engaged local blood donor associations and Ministry of Public Health

Next activities in 2013-2014:

• Develop plan to increase collection (Donor recruitment, motivation, retention)
• Develop SOPs, forms, training materials
• Based on assessment and Collection plan, conduct initial donor recruitment training
• Develop Donor screening and blood processing plans
• Develop job descriptions and training/mentoring plans.
• Quality Assurance and M & E
• Introduce a viable paper based M&E system
• Develop a training plan for all staff based on the assessment