Kaizenlog

MONDAY, 20^th APRIL 2009

No.  0633

POINTS FROM SPEECH BY THE HON. JOE CASSAR, PARLIAMENTARY SECRETARY FOR HEALTH, AT THE FIODS – IFBDO INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF BLOOD DONOR ORGANISATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY – ATTARD – SATURDAY, 18^TH APRIL 2009

The Maltese Government and the Ministry of Health attach great importance to the provision of a safe and sustainable blood supply within the Maltese Islands.

As members of the EU we participate in all EU programmes linked to Blood Transfusion, including the EUBIS Blood Inspection Program, the Optimal Use of Blood Project, the EU-Q-SOP Project and the Donor Management – best practice program.

We are also full members of the European Blood Alliance.

The Ministry of Health has embarked on an ambitious project; we have already set up a new Blood Donation Centre and fully refurbished the Mobile Blood Donation Unit. We are also at an advanced stage in the planning for the construction of a new state-of-the-art blood establishment, at a site very close to here. Construction works are expected to commence late this year.

All these come at a significant cost. However we are fully aware that this investment is investing in our health. We also consider the availability of a safe blood supply as an absolute necessity for the provision of a quality health service.

As representatives of blood donors, we welcome your significant contribution. It is obvious that without blood donors there is no blood bank, and people will die. We also welcome your contribution in highlighting the necessity of voluntary non remunerated donation, indeed this is the cornerstone of the Maltese Blood Service. WE ATTACH GREAT IMPORTANCE TO THE VOLUNTARY NON REMUNERATION of blood and organ donors. Together with the modern management of blood transfusion practices involving screening and processing, we feel that this aspect is an important contributor in safeguarding the safety of our blood supply.

I hope that you will have a fruitful meeting in Malta, not only for the benefit of FIODS, but ultimately for the patients who are or will be requiring blood products.

DOI – 20.04.2009

Welcome back to Kaizenlog.com, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed , Twitter You can contact us by using the contact form or submitting a comment. You can also share this post with your friends by clicking on the 'ShareThis' button above. Thanks for visiting!

 Print This Post

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 21st, 2009 at and is filed under Kaizenlog.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.