Transfusion Medicine: Fact and Fiction

The title stems from the 16th International Blood Transfusion Symposium in Groningen, The Netherlands, 1991, held under the auspices of the World Health Organization (WHO), International Society Blood Transfusion(ISBT) and the Council of Europe (CoE). Transfusion medicine is a new discipline which has a wide remit. As defined recently, transfusion medicine deals with that part of the health care system which understakes appropriate provision and use of human blood resources; transfusion practice is therefore a collective activity linking the blood donor with the patient. Transfusion medicine occupies areas in which it is deemed to be important or even essential that medical practitioners contribute to this bridging process. The broad issues and complex practices are presented in the introduction by the WHO's Assistant Director General with emphasis on education and multidisciplinary facets involving transfusion medicine. The challenging subjects are dealt in detail with personal experience by 24 preofessionals from the UK, France, The Netherlands, USA, Australia, Germany, Sweden, WHO and the Council of Europe. This is a comprehensive but concise state-of-the-art presentation on blood transfusion covering donor and delivery system, ethics and legal elements, effects of modern techniques, importance of management and the future directions in this economic environment. The book has been divided into four sections which discuss both the facts and the fiction.