AM25-TU-04-L - Exploring Innovative Strategies for Blood Donor Recruitment and Retention in Developing Countries, Addressing Challenges and Ensuring Sustainable Blood Supply

Proposed Session Description: This session highlights culturally sensitive strategies for improving blood donor recruitment and retention in resource-limited settings where challenges such as low public awareness, cultural misconceptions, and weak infrastructure persist, focusing on practical innovations, community engagement, and technological solutions. Evidence from studies at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), Nigeria Hospital (Okoroiwu, Okafor et al., 2018), reveals persistent challenges: a high TTI rate (14.96%), especially among commercial donors (62% of infections), and critically low voluntary (0.5% TTI) and female participation ( < 2%). However, repeat donors (62.9%) and seronegative individuals show strong potential for retention. During COVID-19, vulnerabilities in logistics and mobilization were exposed, but innovations like mobile drives, public campaigns, and “lowest hanging fruit” donor policies emerged Hospital (Okoroiwu and Okafor, 2021)
Donor attitude surveys in Calabar and Ethiopia reveal high awareness (>85%) but low practice (~16%), with barriers including fear, time constraints, and lack of invitation. Ethiopian findings mirrored Nigerian patterns—low female participation and knowledge-practice gaps. A regional study emphasized that all West African countries fell below WHO’s benchmark of 10 donations per 1,000 people, with poor national coordination and policy enforcement. A study titled Innovative blood transfusion strategies to address global blood deserts: a consensus statement from the Blood Delivery via Emerging Strategies for Emergency (2024) , Emphasized community mobilization, youth clubs, culturally aligned messaging, and investment in local blood systems

What has worked includes routine screening (e.g., HIV prevalence dropped from 5.7% to 1.7%), mobile blood drives, youth donor clubs, short-term follow-up, and NGO involvement. However, overreliance on commercial donors, poor follow-up systems, and lack of political will remain critical barriers. Blood use analysis at UCTH shows that women of reproductive age dominate recipients (75.23%), with whole blood (70%) overused due to limited component separation. Strategies like targeted female recruitment, improved logistics, structured follow-up, and policy advocacy are essential for sustainability.