During the week of 10 March, the World Health Organization (WHO) published its “Guidance on implementing patient blood management to improve global blood health status”. Among others, Professor Dr Axel Hofmann and Dr Irwin Gross, respectively Chair and Co-Chair of the WHO’s External Steering Committee for the Implementation of Patient Blood Management, contributed to the realization of the document. The guidance document devotes attention to patient blood management (PBM), a “new paradigm to manage and preserve an individual’s own blood in health and illness,” and underlines “the urgent need to prioritize blood health as a global public health goal” and “critical importance of blood health and PBM for global public health”, also highlighting the patient-centred nature of PBM and its economic benefits for healthcare.

The newly released guidance document – which is intended for a wide audience, including leaders, policymakers, enablers, and influencers in public healthcare; (senior) health authority leadership; and medical professionals – relates to the WHO’s 2021 policy brief document, “The urgent need to implement patient blood management”.

The WHO’s guidance document and additional information are available via the WHO’s website.