Global Healing
Contact: Vincent Lok
Tel: 510-898-1859
Email: vince@globalhealing.orgBloodSource
Contact: Leslie Botos
Tel: 916-453-3713
Email: leslie.botos@bloodsource.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
BLOODSOURCE AND GLOBAL HEALING PARTNER TO DEVELOP NATIONAL BLOOD SAFETY PROGRAM FOR THE REPUBLIC OF GEORGIA
BERKELEY, and SACRAMENTO, Calif., - January 23, 2012 – BloodSource, respected in the blood services industry for its long record of service, reliability, safety, quality and compliance, is partnering with Global Healing, a leading non-profit organization devoted to providing modern medical equipment, training and supplies to the developing world, to establish a five-year program to improve the safety of blood transfusions on a national scale in the Republic of Georgia. This collaboration will ultimately strengthen the healthcare infrastructure, improve the quality of blood products and simultaneously address the acute deficit of blood donors.
Georgia collects less than 40 percent of the volume of blood recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for proper medical care of a population of 4.6 million. To address the acute shortage, BloodSource and Global Healing will be working through the Jo Ann Medical Center in Tbilisi, Georgia, and the National Center for Disease Control of Georgia to increase WHO-recommended voluntary non-remunerated blood donations through mobile collections and donor recruitment. The program is culminating in the inaugural training trip to Tbilisi, Georgia, but will also provide annual opportunities for Georgian medical professionals to engage in education at BloodSource headquarters in the Sacramento area.
BloodSource and Global Healing will help the Georgian medical community to establish a national regulatory framework and provide much-needed transfusion medicine education. In addition, the two organizations will help to create and implement a national policy governing blood products.
Global Healing and BloodSource have worked together for 13 years to improve blood safety, first in Georgia and more recently throughout Eastern Europe. Together, the two organizations established a blood bank according to international standards at the Jo Ann Medical Center in 1999. In addition to serving 40 hospitals in Northern and Central California, BloodSource has also worked across the African Continent, the Caribbean and Eastern Europe to train colleagues in the important facets of transfusion medicine.
"Given the similarity in philosophy and culture, as well as the long institutional history and expertise between Global Healing and BloodSource, our collaboration on this program is not only a perfect fit, but a recipe for long-term improvement in the lives of millions of Georgians," said Luke Ifland, president of Global Healing.
Christopher Gresens, Senior Medical Director and Vice President Global Medicine at BloodSource said, "The people of Georgia are committed to working with us to elevate the level of their blood programs and to improve the availability of blood donated by volunteer blood donors in their country. We do this because it is an opportunity for us to learn from one another and together, to improve outcomes for patients who need blood."
About Global Healing
Global Healing is a US-registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization devoted to providing modern medical equipment, supplies and training to the developing world. It was established in 1994, initially to train and equip a team of pediatric cardiology surgeons in Tbilisi, Georgia to perform the nation’s first ever pediatric open-heart surgeries. Global Healing has since started medical programs in Armenia, Honduras, Dominica, Moldova and Nepal. More information can be found at www.globalhealing.org.
About BloodSource
Not for profit since 1948, BloodSource is thousands of donors who give the precious gift of blood, and countless volunteers who give their time and talent, assuring us all of a plentiful blood supply. Since our founding our community-based, not-for-profit regional blood center has never lost sight of its essential mission: to provide blood and services to those in need. We are committed to collecting, testing, processing and delivering blood and blood components – wherever and whenever the need. To learn about BloodSource please visit www.bloodsource.org
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. We undertake no obligation to revise or update information herein to reflect events or circumstances in the future, even if new information becomes available.