Two recent studies investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the blood sectors in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and in Spain. The pandemic has led to severe shortages in blood supplies globally, creating significant concerns for blood banks and transfusion services. The surveys results indicate that blood banks in the two regions met variable degrees of blood shortages. In particular, significant increases in the consumption of red blood cells and platelets were recorded. Many blood donation centres implemented contingency plans and all reviewed their donor criteria to mitigate the risk of exposure. In light of these findings, the authors call for a global strategy to mitigate the impact of public health crises on blood donation and transfusion services. Such as benchmarking and the formal implementation of patient blood management (PBM). Read the full articles here and here.