BloodSource -- To Africa with Hope; Local Blood Center to Participate in $2.4 Million National Grant to Fight AIDS.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- BloodSource has been selected to participate in a $2.4 million federal grant program to improve blood transfusion safety in African and Caribbean countries heavily affected by HIV/AIDS.

As part of the federal Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, BloodSource, along with Emory University, The American Association of Blood Banks and The American Red Cross, will spend up to five years working to make the blood supply safe in Kenya, South Africa, Mozambique and Guyana (South America).

BloodSource was awarded $428,000 for the first year of the grant, which is directed to organization experts who will spend time in Africa and Guyana. The work by the BloodSource team is to perform in-country assessments of existing blood banking infrastructure and blood collection and processing practices; to assist in the design and layout of facilities; assist in the selection of equipment and supplies; develop country-specific protocols and standard operating procedures; help with training of blood bank staff; teach appropriate utilization of blood and blood products; serve as advocates and liaisons for the four assigned countries for transfusion-related issues.

Christopher Gresens, M.D., Medical Director, Clinical Services at BloodSource will serve as Medical Director for the project. BloodSource medical technologist Lee Schuller, MT(ASCP)SBB will serve as full-time Team Leader, and Pamela Dubois, RN, will serve as full-time Field Leader. Schuller and Dubois depart for Guyana on December 1st. Gresens will join the team in Kenya early next year.

"This is an opportunity to provide hope for more than 100 million people," says Gresens, who along with Schuller has worked on similar programs in the Republic of Georgia, formerly part of the Soviet Union. "The blood supply in the areas of Africa and the Caribbean where we will be working is, at best, only marginally safe."

The safety of global blood supplies is critical. For the people who live in parts of Africa and Guyana there is the opportunity to prevent new HIV infections, treat millions of HIV-infected people and care for millions of HIV-infected individuals and AIDS orphans. The ultimate goal of this project is to effect significant change in the incidence of transfusion-transmitted HIV and AIDS, and the massive personal, social, economic and political effects that HIV has in these nations.

Blood safety impacts people who travel to these areas -- business, military and those who are there as tourists. "The world must have a safe blood supply," says Gresens. "If we are to stop the spread of AIDS we must reach across borders -- and oceans -- hope for all."

For more information about BloodSource please visit our website at www.bloodsource.org