Period: 01.05.2023 – 31.12.2024
Project Goal: Contribute to the reduction of morbidity and mortality through improved Blood Transfusion Service
Outcome 1: MRCS HQ and Branches are empowered and responsible phasing-out process executed by December 2024.
Outcome 2: VNBRD Sensitization, mobilization and recruitment of donors activities of MRCS are sustained.
Outcome 3: Access to safe blood is sustained
Target: 5,316,903 (Population in Blantyre, Lilongwe, Mzuzu Districts)
Brief Background information and progress so far.
Access to safe blood at the hospitals in Malawi is limited and is a contributing factor to the high mother and children U5 mortality rates of the country. While Malawi Blood Transfusion Service (MBTS)has increased the number of blood units collected from 4’000 units collected in 2004 to 70’000 units in 2018 it is still far from meeting the annual target of 120’000 units and many deaths mainly after delivery, accidents or malaria could be avoided with more blood collected annually.
Malawi Red Cross Society (MRCS) is active in blood donor sensitization, mobilization, and recruitment since 2014. The blood donor recruitment (BDR) projects supported by SRC since 2016 up to date, helped MRCS to increase it’s presence and recognition as an important stakeholder. In only 7 years of project implementation, MRCS was able to steadily increase the mobilization and recruitment of blood donors for MBTS. MRCS is today contributing to 12% of the national collected blood of MBTS, whilst it contributed to only 0,7% in 2017. MRCS has continuously adapted it’s approaches and has defined BDR as strategic pillar in its strategy 2020-24. The national society has a permanent focal point for BDR at MRCS HQ and is mainstreaming BDR in all project and Branches of MRCS. Whilst these are important measures for sustainability within MRCS, Blood Transfusion Services in Malawi, including donor recruitment, rely heavily on donor support. For now, SRC is the only partner for MRCS, and MRCS the only for MBTS.
The strategic decision of SRC HQ, to close the SRC delegation in Malawi and to phase-out the long-term programmes, was communicated to MRCS in autumn 2022 and is a real challenge for the BDR project and for MRCS and MBTS. The BDR project was called “scaling-up of BDR” and was in the dynamic of increasing the collaboration and the blood collection. Now with the present phasing-out project, these dynamic needs to change in only 21 months, with an available budget of CHF 400’000 and with no other partners active or alternative funding available in this special field.
Project Goal: Contribute to the reduction of morbidity and mortality through improved Blood Transfusion Service
Outcome 1: MRCS HQ and Branches are empowered and responsible phasing-out process executed by December 2024.
Outcome 2: VNBRD Sensitization, mobilization and recruitment of donors activities of MRCS are sustained.
Outcome 3: Access to safe blood is sustained
Target: 5,316,903 (Population in Blantyre, Lilongwe, Mzuzu Districts)
Brief Background information and progress so far.
Access to safe blood at the hospitals in Malawi is limited and is a contributing factor to the high mother and children U5 mortality rates of the country. While Malawi Blood Transfusion Service (MBTS)has increased the number of blood units collected from 4’000 units collected in 2004 to 70’000 units in 2018 it is still far from meeting the annual target of 120’000 units and many deaths mainly after delivery, accidents or malaria could be avoided with more blood collected annually.
Malawi Red Cross Society (MRCS) is active in blood donor sensitization, mobilization, and recruitment since 2014. The blood donor recruitment (BDR) projects supported by SRC since 2016 up to date, helped MRCS to increase it’s presence and recognition as an important stakeholder. In only 7 years of project implementation, MRCS was able to steadily increase the mobilization and recruitment of blood donors for MBTS. MRCS is today contributing to 12% of the national collected blood of MBTS, whilst it contributed to only 0,7% in 2017. MRCS has continuously adapted it’s approaches and has defined BDR as strategic pillar in its strategy 2020-24. The national society has a permanent focal point for BDR at MRCS HQ and is mainstreaming BDR in all project and Branches of MRCS. Whilst these are important measures for sustainability within MRCS, Blood Transfusion Services in Malawi, including donor recruitment, rely heavily on donor support. For now, SRC is the only partner for MRCS, and MRCS the only for MBTS.
The strategic decision of SRC HQ, to close the SRC delegation in Malawi and to phase-out the long-term programmes, was communicated to MRCS in autumn 2022 and is a real challenge for the BDR project and for MRCS and MBTS. The BDR project was called “scaling-up of BDR” and was in the dynamic of increasing the collaboration and the blood collection. Now with the present phasing-out project, these dynamic needs to change in only 21 months, with an available budget of CHF 400’000 and with no other partners active or alternative funding available in this special field.