donorcentre.asp

Haemovigilance Programme

First Annual Report Released

The publication of the first, annual haemovigilance report for New Zealand is a significant milestone for both NZBS and the wider health sector. The report provides information on the adverse events associated with transfusion in New Zealand. It will assist health professionals to better understand the risks associated with transfusion and to communicate these to potential recipients.

What Is Haemovigilance?

Haemovigilance can be defined in a number of ways however NZBS has chosen to adopt the Council of Europe definition which states that haemovigilance is:

"…The detection, gathering and analysis of information regarding untoward and unexpected effects of blood transfusion…"

The provision of safe transfusion therapy is a basic requirement of advanced medical care. Despite major advances in viral and bacterial detection and the subsequent reduction in risk of transfusion transmitted infections there are still other significant risks associated with transfusion.

For example, in the UK mistransfusion and non-infectious hazards of transfusion account for 50% and 95% (respectively) of reported adverse reactions to transfusion (UK SHOT Report, 2003).

The transfusion literature clearly shows that the risks of these types of events are several orders of magnitude higher than those for viral infections such as HIV, HBV or HCV.

What Is The Haemovigilance Programme?

Through this initiative NZBS aims to receive and consequently analyse reports regarding transfusion-related adverse events. The data gathered from the programme will then enable NZBS to:

  • provide the clinical community with a reliable source of information about untoward effects of transfusion
  • recommend corrective measures for preventing the recurrence of particular events or dysfunction in the transfusion process
  • warn hospitals and blood services about adverse events that could involve more individuals than a single recipient e.g. transmission of infectious diseases, problems with blood bags, solutions or blood processing etc

Your first point of contact with the programme will normally be through submission of a report regarding an adverse event occurring during the transfusion process. This report will generally be submitted by your Transfusion Safety Officer (TSO) who in most cases is the Blood Bank Charge Scientist.