Bridging Global Immunohematology Expertise Through Distance Learning: Sustainable Blood Banking and Transfusion Education for Low- and Middle-resource Countries

Proposed Session Description: Safe blood bank and transfusion practices are essential for optimum patient care and require a skilled workforce. In many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), education and workforce development face barriers such as shortages of trained experts, limited access to advanced immunohematology education, infrastructure constraints, and supply chain instability.
Educational materials and test reagents are often developed in high-resource settings and may not reflect local epidemiology, available testing platforms, or workforce realities in LMICs. As a result, transfusion professionals manage complex clinical and laboratory challenges with limited knowledge, mentorship, testing, and training. Remote and collaborative training can expand access to advanced immunohematology expertise.
This session examines the current framework for transfusion education in LMICs, workforce gaps, infrastructure limitations, and access barriers that affect the sustainability of training. Members of AABB’s Global Transfusion Forum will share examples from international partnerships that build sustainable transfusion capacity through curriculum and project co-development, laboratory mentorship, and bidirectional knowledge exchange. Cases will illustrate how culturally responsive teaching, hybrid distance-learning models, and collaborative program design strengthen professional engagement and learner outcomes.
Finally, participants will evaluate practical strategies for transferring transfusion medicine knowledge to foster local ownership and strengthen systems using case studies with reflective prompts. Discussions will focus on train-the-trainer models, leadership development, and integrating quality management principles into training frameworks. Attendees will consider how to create sustainable workforce pathways in LMICs that support immunohematology expertise, regulatory compliance, and the growth of national blood systems.