Guest blog writer Gavin Evans is the executive director of Global Blood Fund, a international charitable organization committed to creating wider access to safe blood all around the world. Under Evans' direction, GBF has provided aid to more than 50 countries since its work began nearly two decades ago. To learn more about GBF, from its founding by Our Blood Institute in 2008 to how you can support its efforts abroad, visit obi.org/global-blood-fund.
So here we are: another year in the books and a new one having only just begun. Before we get too far into 2025, though, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on all that we were able to accomplish last year — in no small part because of the unbelievable generosity of OBI donors.
How Your Contributions Made Blood Safer and More Accessible in 2024
Many of GBF's initiatives span months or even years, so we began 2024 by completing several projects from 2023. One such success was the What's My Type initiative in Ghana, where we helped the country's national blood service implement pre-donation ABO Rh typing as a recruitment strategy. This approach fostered partnerships with multiple community organizations and sparked meaningful conversations about the value of blood donation.
RELATED: Hundreds Give Blood in Ghana Following GBF Campaign
We also wrapped up our work with partners in Ukraine, a collaboration that earned GBF the prestigious AABB President's Award for "extraordinary leadership in supporting medical professionals" in the country.
As always, equipment re-homing played a major role in our efforts. We received generous donations from several U.S. blood centers — OBI included, of course. These contributions ranged from centrifuges and fridges to donor beds and blood analyzers, many of which were sent to blood centers in Mexico, where they continue to save lives. A particularly notable international donation came from the blood service in Wales, UK: 118 Hemoflow 400 blood mixers, which were shipped to El Salvador to help increase the number of usable donations.
Closer to home, many of you will be familiar with our ongoing work at Hope Children’s Hospital in Ghana. Thanks to generous local support, we equipped their new blood bank, which will serve both their patients and surrounding rural clinics. GBF also provided a supply of essential reagents to help sustain their operations.
