title: Apheresis in developing countries around the World.
abstract: At the combined American Society for Apheresis (ASFA) Annual Meeting/World Apheresis Association (WAA) Congress in San Francisco, California, in April of 2014, the opening session highlighted the status of apheresis outside of the United States. The organizers invited physicians active in apheresis in countries not usually represented at such international gatherings to give them a forum to share their experiences, challenges, and expectations in their respective countries with regard to both donor and therapeutic apheresis. Apheresis technology is expensive as well as technically and medically demanding, and low and median income countries have different experiences to share with the rest of the world. Apheresis procedures also require resources taken for granted in the developed world, such as reliable electrical power, that can be unpredictable in parts of the developing world. On the other hand, it was obvious that there are significant disparities in access to apheresis within the same country (such as in Brazil), as well as between neighboring nations in Africa and South America. A common trend in the presentations from Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, and South Africa, was the need for more and better physicians and practitioners' training in the indications of the various apheresis modalities and patient oversight during the procedures. As ASFA and WAA continue to work together, and globalization allows for increased knowledge-sharing, improved access to apheresis procedures performed by qualified personnel with safety and high-quality standards will be increasingly available.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee.
authors.forename: Quentin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Eichbaum
authors.affiliation: Department of Transfusion Medicine, Sanquin Blood Bank, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: W Martin
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Smid
authors.affiliation: Independent Transfusion Medicine Consultant, South Africa.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Crookes
authors.affiliation: Consultant Pathology (Haematology) and Quality Manager, National Blood Centre, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Kuala Lampur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Norris
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Naim
authors.affiliation: Fundação Pró-Sangue Hemocentro de São Paulo, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Alfredo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mendrone
authors.affiliation: Blood Center of the State University of Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: José Francisco Comenalli
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama.
authors.forename: Marisa B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Marques
mesh_terms: D000349:Africa; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001781:Blood Component Removal / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods* / Q000639:trends*; D001792:Blood Platelets / Q000166:cytology; D001938:Brazil; D003906:Developing Countries; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000166:cytology; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D054625:Healthcare Disparities; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D008296:Malaysia; D009042:Motivation; D061214:Patient Safety; D014481:United States
keywords: Africa; Brazil; Malaysia; South Africa; donor apheresis; therapeutic apheresis