Blood and Beyond hosts Policy Event “The Time is Now: Making Blood Health a Policy Priority”

According to the latest WHO guidance on implementing patient blood management to improve global blood health status, “patients’ own circulating blood is the most neglected organ.” Consequently, this policy event sought to give blood health and patient blood management (PBM) implementation more visibility in the policy agenda of the EU institutions and suggest policy actions for the 2024 – 2029 EU political term. The event underlined the momentum that exists and drew attention to the commitment that can be seen among healthcare professionals and clinicians, patient representatives, and policymakers at various levels to act to improve blood health in Europe. It also served as an opportunity for Blood and Beyond to present its 5-Point Plan for Better Blood Health in Europe for the following years, which is oriented towards EU bodies, EU Member States, as well as the World Health Organization (WHO) Europe, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). These recommendations were presented by Dr Esther Oliva (Department of Haematology, London North West University Healthcare NHS Trust).

At the start of the event, MEPs Sokol and Hadjipantela highlighted the need for continued efforts to reduce the burden of anaemia and other blood disorders, the insufficient attention previously devoted to blood and conditions that affect it, and the value of PBM for improving blood health, patient safety and patient outcomes.

“On the specific topic of blood health and blood management, it is a topic that is neglected. The European Parliament discusses many topics such as cancer, rare diseases, and cardiovascular health, but not so much the topic of blood. Conditions that impair blood health affect at least 28 million European citizens. This is one of the major public health issues, so it must be discussed in the European Parliament”, emphasized MEP Sokol, host of the event. For its part, MEP Hadjipantela, co-host of the event, indicated that “bad blood health poses an unnecessary burden on healthcare systems and societies at large” and that “the European Union should support efforts to improve blood health by, among others, recognising the value of PBM and encouraging implementation by the Member States.”

Following the MEPs’ remarks, Professor Axel Hofmann (Chair, WHO’s External Steering Committee on the Implementation of Patient Blood Management) delivered a presentation on the economic drivers of blood health and the benefits of PBM implementation. “The WHO recommended countries to take urgent action for the implementation of PBM back in 2021”, he informed participants. Using a case study from Angers, France, Prof Hofmann underlined that the pilot showed a reduction in hospital spending by 1.3 billion euros per year. “The latest WHO guidance should serve to finally put PBM on the policy agenda, not only for its enormous financial benefits to healthcare systems but also because it is good for patients”, he concluded.

As part of the event’s main discussion, panellists Professor Axel Hofmann, Dr Manuel Pizarro (former Minister of Health of Portugal and current Member of the Portuguese Parliament), Dr Joao Breda (Director WHO Europe Office for Quality of Care and Patient Safety), Dr Androulla Eleftheriou (Executive Director Thalassemia International Federation), and Kalina Bozhkova (Director Global Alliance for Patient Access) reflected on how to best advance policies for better blood health and PBM implementation in Europe. “PBM has a real impact on patients’ lives”, indicated Dr Joao Breda, who also expressed the intention of WHO Europe Office for Quality of Care and Patient Safety to consider how to incorporate PBM implementation into their work plans as a criterion for the measurement of countries’ patient safety and quality of care performance. For his part, Dr Pizarro stressed that countries are expected to do more with fewer resources and implementing PBM could achieve that, but more political implication is needed. “it is mandatory to create new initiatives at the European level. PBM is a very good point for a European initiative that could strengthen the Union”, he affirmed.

MEP Sokol closed the event by emphasizing that the European Parliament should continue engaging on this topic. He recognized the importance of blood health and PBM implementation and noted that the European Parliament can do more to position the conversation on blood health and PBM implementation through tools such as public hearings and resolutions. He also urged for EU funding to enable the implementation of PBM programmes. To conclude, MEP Sokol informed that he and his colleague MEP Hadjipantela are putting forward a Joint MEP Statement to the European Commission urging the Commission to recognise the importance of blood health and support the implementation of PBM in Europe. The Joint MEP Statement is now open to signing by additional MEPs.

You can download the event report here.

PBM is a patient-centred, systematic, evidence-based approach to improve patient outcomes by managing and preserving a patient’s own blood while promoting patient safety and empowerment. Endorsed by the WHO, PBM includes 1) screening for, diagnosing and appropriately treating anaemia (and iron deficiency) according to the underlying cause, 2) minimising blood loss and managing blood clotting problems, and 3) supporting patients while appropriate treatment is initiated.

Blood and Beyond, which supported the organization of this event, is a multi-stakeholder initiative co-funded by Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS) and CSL, involving experts from the fields of haematology, transfusion medicine, anaesthesiology, patient blood management, nursing, patient advocacy, health economics, and hospital management, with support from policymakers committed to driving improvements in this area. The aim of the initiative is to raise awareness of the importance of good blood health and the need to tackle the impact of anaemia on patients, healthcare systems and society at large. Blood and Beyond’s overarching goal is to advocate for and help advance policies and practices that improve patient outcomes by supporting patient-centricity in anaemia prevention, diagnosis, and management through patient blood management (PBM) and innovation.