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Blood, Donors And Dollars: Rethinking Financial Sustainability Of Safe Blood Services In Tanzania, Kahabi Isangula, Sharon Brownie, Abela Mahimbo, Solomon Kibona, Abdu Juma, Deus Mogela

School of Nursing & Midwifery, East Africa

Introduction: Collection, processing and distribution of safe blood in Tanzania occurs within a free-for-service context, that is, a collection from non-remunerated blood donors and distributing freely to the needy people through health facilities. The safe blood services in the country appear to be crippled with many challenges and cannot meet the demand for blood and its products. As such, a need for rethinking collection methods, financial models and possible mechanisms for donor remuneration is evident.

Methods: In this paper, we venture on multi-stakeholder meetings and ongoing discussions regarding the internal mechanisms of safe blood transfusion financing. The intent is to …