In April 2022, the BISKIT consortium traveled to South Africa to meet with Western Cape Blood Service (WCBS) in Cape Town and South African Blood Service (SANBS) in Johannesburg. After a long time of remote data collections, this finally offered the opportunity to meet in person and connect directly. We have had very inspiring discussions on a wide range of topics concerning the resilience of the blood supply chain before, during, and after a crisis. The consortium highly benefits from the valuable input and expertise of the South African blood establishments. Due to lots of newly acquired information, we are now keen to develop our information system further. Besides visiting the blood establishments, members of the BISKIT consortium also took the chance to interview several stakeholders from a crisis management perspective. Lastly, we highly appreciate the great hospitality and interest in the BISKIT project.
We are looking forward to hosting several African blood establishments for a BISKIT workshop this autumn in Berlin.
