The National Blood Programme 60th Anniversary Scientific Symposium On "Evolving Trends In Transfusion Medicine"

08 Jul 2006

By Ms Yong Ying-I, Permanent Secretary

Venue: A-Star Auditorium, Biopolis

Distinguished Speakers;

Ladies and Gentlemen

It gives me great pleasure to deliver the opening address this morning at the scientific symposium on "Evolving Trends in Transfusion Medicine", organised to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of our National Blood Programme in Singapore.  Some of you are from overseas, and I warmly welcome you to Singapore.

Safe blood as an enabler of quality health care

I am pleased to note that Singapore today enjoys high standards of healthcare by any comparison. Our hospitals have an international reputation for reliable quality care, and our doctors and nurses for their professional excellence and skill.  We welcome many international patients who come here for treatment because they trust in the integrity, expertise and dependability of our medical facilities here.

This would not be possible without a first-rate national blood service with a safe and stable blood supply and high quality blood banking services to support healthcare development in our nation. Complicated neurosurgical separation of conjoined twins presupposed sufficient blood to be available. Bone marrow transplants, cancer chemotherapy, and treatment of clotting disorders depend on platelets and plasma products from blood donations.

As our local professionals and our international friends here today know, quality in the blood supply cannot be assumed. Neither does it happen easily or overnight.  Capabilities take decades of emphasis and focus on organisational excellence and quality in our blood service - in Singapore's case, 60 years to what we have today of a first class centre of excellence in transfusion medicine, with a reputation for quality. It is a combination of good leadership and management, and the strong commitment of trained staff to technical and professional excellence.  It is to the credit of our blood service staff that they are always trying to advance standards of practice and are not afraid to make changes and adopt new approaches. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the Centre for Transfusion Medicine of the Health Sciences Authority for achieving the AABB accreditation this year, in recognition of its strong quality systems and high standards of blood bank practice.

The road ahead

However, as we celebrate the achievements of the last 60 years, this scientific symposium sets the right tone by looking forward.  It is worth repeating the point that our political leadership always makes - that success should not lead us to become complacent.  Indeed, solutions that worked in the past may not work now, never mind in the future.  With healthcare evolving rapidly globally, all countries need to adapt and innovate. This applies equally to Singapore and to the countries that our international friends come from. 

The theme of today''s symposium "Evolving Trends in Transfusion Medicine" is apt.  I'm not a doctor nor am I a blood specialist, but I am told that rapid advances are being made in blood banking and transfusion medicine.  Molecular technology now enables us to pinpoint differences in blood groups at a genetic level, and to discover the true cellular functions of blood group antigens.  Platelet concentrates, non-existent in our blood bank 30 years ago, are now routinely transfused for various conditions ranging from open-heart surgery to leukaemia to dengue haemorrhagic syndromes. Blood cell separator machines are able to collect platelets directly from the donor, rather than the need for it to be separated after blood donation. In the future, we will be able to collect and process a new generation of blood components: haematopoietic stem cells, specific immune cells, cord blood cells and some other things I can't pronounce! These will enable tailored treatment of patients with cancer, infectious diseases, immunological diseases amongst others.

As a policy person, what does this tell me?  First, this is going to be an exciting part of the development of our national healthcare system.  I would expect our approach to medicine to become more knowledge-driven and evidenced-based and patient care more closely linked to clinical research.  Singapore has been able to build a strong capability in basic biomedical research based in the Biopolis that you are now sitting in.  Our healthcare institutions will leverage on this to expand our capabilities in translational and clinical research.  This presents exciting opportunities and challenges for those working in haematology and transfusion medicine. 

Second, despite technological advances, it is sobering that one of the most common causes of serious blood transfusion complications in developed countries is human error in transfusing the wrong unit of blood to a patient. Continuous vigilance and professional continuing education of the multi-disciplinary teams that run our hospital today is a critical issue we have to invest more in.

Third, the public worry about infections threatening the integrity of the blood supply.  However, the professionals assure me that notwithstanding public anxiety on HIV, hepatitis and variant CJD in our blood supply, effective donor screening strategies and more sensitive tests have reduced the infectious risks of blood transfusion to extremely low levels in developed countries. It is new emerging infections that worry them more.

Fourth, for the policy makers, the global policy challenge is to make sufficient safe blood available worldwide and not just in developed countries. The goal of universal access to safe blood is an initiative that is championed by the WHO and many international blood organisations, and Singapore supports this.  Wide variations in income levels and societal developments also matter. One of the greatest difficulties in ensuring safe blood in developing countries is the presence of paid blood donations and inability to select safe donors during the pre-donation screening process.  Patient education, mindset change, and employment and incomes are inter-related.

Symposia such as this one today allow all those involved in blood transfusion to keep updated of changes and new developments in the field. Sharing of information and experiences enables both the transfusion medicine and wider medical community to collectively identify the problems and threats facing the blood supply and to work together towards effective solutions. The speed with which infections such as SARS and avian influenza can cross borders means that countries needs to unite in working together to counter risks to blood safety and quality.

As for our national blood programme as we celebrate 60 good years past, I look forward to it continuing to advance the quality and safety of the national blood supply and to applying new and innovative strategies to provide solutions and generate improvement.  We will also work with the international community and with blood services in their countries to achieve the global target of safe blood for all.

Conclusion

In closing, let me take this opportunity to wish all of you a fruitful and useful weekend of learning. I thank our distinguished speakers who have contributed their time to share their valuable experiences and knowledge with us here today. I once again warmly welcome our overseas colleagues who have come to Singapore for the symposium and wish them a pleasant and enjoyable stay here.  May I express the hope as you work hard on a sunny Saturday morning that you get to relax some part of the weekend and have the opportunity to savour the sights and foods of Singapore. 

Thank you and have a good symposium.