Taiwan Hosted Its First APEC Blood Safety Policy Forum In 2018

2019/01/18

Taiwan Hosted Its First APEC Blood Safety Policy Forum In 2018

 Taiwan Blood Services Foundation (TBSF) and Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Life Sciences Innovation Forum (LSIF) Blood Safety Network co-hosted the 5th APEC Blood Safety Policy Forum at the NTUH International Convention Center on December 10 and 11, 2018.

  Starting in 2014, TBSF has been a regular attendee at APEC Blood Supply Chain Policy Forum. The chair of the LSIF Executive Board in 2018 was Shih-Chung Chen, Minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. With the support of the ministry, TBSF President Dr. Sheng-Mou Hou was elected as the chair for the Blood Safety Network in 2018 and the foundation hosted the APEC Blood Safety Forum that was held for the first time in Taiwan.

  The theme for this year’s Policy Forum is “Raising and Converging Standards through Centers of Excellence”.  Access to a safe and sufficient supply of blood and related products and services, including blood transfusion, is a critical element of any health system. APEC has outlined a number of specific goals as part of the APEC Blood Supply Chain 2020 Roadmap to establish quality systems and implement good manufacturing practices to optimize the safety of the blood supply. The Policy Forum will identify ways in which centers of excellence can help accelerate GMP certification in APEC economies and open up new opportunities to converge the quality and safety standards for blood products across the Asia-Pacific region. 
   
  The two-day forum invited leading experts including Mr. Michael Schmitz, advisor at APEC LSIF; Dr. Yuyun Soedarmono, regional director of the International Society of Blood Transfusion, South East Asia; Ms. Vee Armstrong, Quality & Regulatory Consultant; Dr. Saraswti, Director of Primary Health Services; Dr. Myung Han Kim, Director General, Blood Services Headquarters, Korean Red Cross; Dr. Nor Nazahah Mahmud, Transfusion Medicine Specialist and Deputy Director II, National Blood Centre, Ministry of Health, Malaysia; Dr. Ubonwon Charoonruangrit, Director, National Blood Centre, Thai Red Cross Society; Dr. Tani, Director of Osaka Blood Center, Japan Red Cross Society; Dr. Christian Schärer, Head Inspectorate, Swissmedic, Swiss Agency for Therapeutic Products and Chairman, WHO Blood Regulators Network; Dr. Julieta Rojo-Media, Director General, National Center of Blood Transfusion, Mexico and Prof. Thierry Burnouf, Vice-Dean, College of Biomedical Engineering, Taipei Medical University. Ms. Ying-Hua Chen, senior specialist, Food & Drug Adminsitration, Ministry of Health and Welfare, addressed the forum on behalf of Taiwan. Scholars and experts from Taiwan in the audience included Prof. Marie Lin, transfusion medicine expert, Ti-Yuan Lee, former deputy minister of Ministry of Health and Welfare and Ching-Chuan Yeh, former minister of Ministry of Health and Welfare and current president of the Chinese Blood Donation Association, all of whom had fruitful discussions and exchanges with international scholars and experts.

Opening remarks by Dr. Sheng-Mou Hou, TBSF President
Opening remarks by Dr. Sheng-Mou Hou, TBSF President

Keynote speech by Dr. Yuyun Soedarmono from Indonesia
Keynote speech by Dr. Yuyun Soedarmono from Indonesia
Ms. Ying-Hua Chen, senior specialist, Food & Drug Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare, sharing the status of regulatory reform and future prospects for blood and blood products in Taiwan
Ms. Ying-Hua Chen, senior specialist, Food & Drug Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare, sharing the status of regulatory reform and future prospects for blood and blood products in Taiwan

   The forum included discussions regarding the APEC Blood Supply Chain 2020 Roadmap, currently implemented items among member economies, introduction and discussion over APEC White Paper on raising and converging standards through Blood Laboratory Centers of Excellence, APEC economies experience in implementing the model, the economic benefits of the Blood Laboratory Centers of Excellence model, developing center of excellence implementation plans, the Economic Potential of Regulatory Convergence of Blood and Blood Products in APEC and reexamining Self-Sufficiency in APEC Economies.

    Shih-Chung Chen, Minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, who was present at the forum, said “To improve quality and efficiency, Taiwan has been gradually merging its local and regional blood product manufacturing facilities. In 2001, we have merged six blood screening laboratories into just two, which obtained the ISO 15189 as well as PIC/S GMP certification, meeting the standard of center of excellence. Center of excellence is also the theme of this forum. I would like to invite everyone to visit Taipei Blood Center to see what we have accomplished and give us your feedbacks.”

Remarks by Shih-Chung Chen, Minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, who made exchanges with other economy representatives
Remarks by Shih-Chung Chen, Minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, who made exchanges with other economy representatives

Group photo with all the guests from various APEC member economies, who will continue to formulate better blood safety policies to provide better care for the patient and medical care quality
Group photo with all the guests from various APEC member economies, who will continue to formulate better blood safety policies to provide better care for the patient and medical care quality

     After the two-day forum ended, 42 representatives from 16 member economies visited Taipei Blood Center to understand the center’s procedure in centralized screening and blood processing.

  During the visit, the representatives were greatly intrigued by Taiwan’s integrated screening model and greatly commended Taiwan’s standardized process that has earned various certification. They believed that Taiwan’s model could serve as a reference for their own blood systems in their economies. They also could not stop singing praises to Taiwan’s high blood donation rate and high blood quality requirements.

Experts and scholars gave recognition to Taipei Blood Center’ blood processing process with the help of a center staff member. Both sides had positive exchanges01 Experts and scholars gave recognition to Taipei Blood Center’ blood processing process with the help of a center staff member. Both sides had positive exchanges02
Experts and scholars gave recognition to Taipei Blood Center’ blood processing process with the help of a center staff member. Both sides had positive exchanges

Experts and scholars given a tour on our bloodmobile and shared their experience01 Experts and scholars given a tour on our bloodmobile and shared their experience02
 After the tour, the representatives returned to their countries with what they have learned at this forum with the hope to improve their blood quality and converge blood standards. They hoped that by doing this, their economies will enjoy better blood safety, earn the GMP certification, reach self-sufficiency in blood products and formulate a even more advanced national blood plan.

  71 attendees from 20 APEC economies attended the 5th APEC Blood Safety Policy Forum, including government officials, scholars, experts and representatives from international organizations, patient groups and the private sector. The forum was held with the goal to facilitate exchanges among APEC economies to accelerate GMP certification for their blood centers. All the speeches, discussions and ideas presented at the forum will serve as a reference for the APEC Blood Safety Whitepaper with the goal to improve health and economic benefits and eventually provide equal access to better blood products and medical care for patients in need.

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