Blood and Beyond has published a new infographic illustrating the economic and human impact of poor blood health and the added benefit of the implementation of patient blood management (PBM) programmes to address the global burden of poor blood health, improve patient outcomes, and generate economic savings for hospitals and healthcare systems.

The infographic underlines the burden of poor blood health. Anaemia alone affects around 2 billion people worldwide, including 28 million in the European Union, while a further 1 billion people are at risk due to iron deficiency, even in the absence of anaemia. Against this backdrop, poor blood health constitutes not only a major clinical issue but also an economic one, contributing to worse patient outcomes, longer hospital stays, and increased healthcare expenditure.

To help address those problems, the infographic positions PBM as a key tool for improving blood health. It draws attention to inefficiencies in current practice, particularly the overuse of blood transfusions. Across 23 European countries, around 12.6 million units of red blood units were transfused in 2023, with associated costs estimated at approximately €7.56 billion annually. This amount does not account for additional economic costs linked to complications.

The presented evidence in the infographic shows that these inefficiencies and burden on healthcare systems are largely preventable. PBM programmes have demonstrated the ability to reduce transfusion rates and blood wastage, complications, and mortality. At the same time, PBM has been proven to generate substantial cost savings to the healthcare system. For example, European examples limited only to anaemia management in patients undergoing elective surgery in Germany and France indicate potential savings of over €1 billion annually in each country, alongside measurable improvements in patient outcomes.

Blood and Beyond calls on EU institutions, Member States, and international organisations to prioritise the implementation of PBM as both an ethical and economic imperative. With the ongoing rollout of the European Union’s Substances of Human Origin (SoHO) Regulation, there is a timely opportunity to integrate PBM into national health systems and strengthen the role of blood health within broader healthcare policy.