SUMMARY NOTES of the meeting of the Canadian Blood Services Community Liaison Committee (CLC) held in Winnipeg on Tuesday, 18 March 2003 at 2 p.m.

Transcription

1 SUMMARY NOTES of the meeting of the Canadian Blood Services Community Liaison Committee (CLC) held in Winnipeg on Tuesday, 18 March 2003 at 2 p.m. PRESENT: GUESTS: REGRETS: Myrtle Nichols, Centre Director, CBS Winnipeg (Chair) Jim Rodger, Blood Donor Irene Freynet, Volunteer Clinic Organizer Dave Angus, Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce Angela Narth, Recipient Richard Adam, Heart & Stroke Foundation of Manitoba Jim Nicholas, Canadian Liver Foundation Amalia Pempengco, Volunteer Jay McLeod, Recipient Bob Fallis, Laboratory Manager, CBS Winnipeg Dunstan MacDonald, Donor Services Manager, CBS Winnipeg Michael Hyduk, Communications Specialist, CBS Winnipeg Janet LaForest, CBS Winnipeg (Recording Secretary) Dr. Kerry MacDonald, Lake of the Woods District Hospital Thom Irving, Donor Ambassador Ken Donaldson, Volunteer Clinic Organizer Karen Olson, Hemophilia Society of Manitoba Shane Wood, Volunteer Clinic Organizer Opening Remarks The Centre Director welcomed everyone to the Meeting. The group introduced themselves to one another for the benefit of the many new members, and gave a brief statement regarding their interest in Canadian Blood Services and the CLC. Approval of Summary Notes The Summary Notes from 26 November 2002 were approved as circulated. BUSINESS ARISING: 1. CLC Terms of Reference Changes to the Terms of Reference in December 2002 were reviewed: CLC Meetings will be held three times a year, rather than quarterly members are appointed for a three-year term with term start times staggered so that not all members leave the Committee at the same time Page 1 of 5

2 members may request to leave the Committee at any time prior to the expiration of their term members must be present at a meeting to vote on an issue the Centre Director is the sole CBS Member on the CLC, and the only CBS member who is able to vote if members drop off, the committee will not be struck done as there is no need for closure; new members will be recruited as the situation arises members are free to distribute Meeting Summary Notes as they wish; CBS will only distribute the notes to the members the number of Committee members was left open at the Terms of Reference are to be used as a guideline and not as an absolute rule. 2. Selection of Co-Chair I. Freynet volunteered to become the CLC Co-Chair, replacing L. Beahun who resigned from the Committee. 3. Distribution of Summary Notes The approach by other CLCs across Canada is for members to distribute the Summary Notes, once approved, as they see fit. The Winnipeg Group will follow suit. It was noted that CBS can only make recommendations to hospitals and stakeholder groups, but cannot make policy for them. 4. Donor Recruitment Presentation A presentation was given regarding Donor Recruitment in Winnipeg (handout distributed). Important points to note: Winnipeg Centre holds mobile clinics in Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario permanent clinic collection sites are located in Winnipeg and Brandon CBS needs to recruit 87,000 people to get 67,225 donors in the door in order to collect 55,000 units, which are needed annually to meet hospital demand half of the current donor base is under age 39, which is very healthy Health Canada approves the age of blood donors currently donors must be between the age of 17 and 71; CBS will be submitting a request this year to Health Canada asking to raise the upper donor age limit past 71 for regular donors the average donor frequency rate is 2.03 donations a year, which CBS is trying to increase to 3 times a year the growing number of donors is indicative of the growing increase in donor confidence in Canada s blood system the rate of donor deferrals is also on the rise, partly attributed to donors travelling in areas where vcjd and malaria are endemic; the deferral rate is highest amongst first time donors 5,000 donors a year are deferred because of a low hemoglobin count; a pilot is being launched in April to improve the return rate of donors who are deferred for low iron the Donors for Life Program has proven very successful, resulting in over 13,000 units collected last year the What s Your Type (WYT) Program goes to Community locations prior to a clinic to garner interest in donating; a WYT classroom learning session has been developed for Grade 11 students; a suggestion was made to give the WYT Page 2 of 5

3 presentation to English language for Immigrants classes to provide them with initial exposure to CBS CBS runs a Lifebus Shuttle Program that goes out to Schools and Corporations to bring donors into the permanent clinic sites to donate 100 companies and corporations are participating in the Partners 4 Pints Program child supervision is provided by volunteers in the Winnipeg Centre every Wednesday and Saturday morning NEW BUSINESS: 1. Report from NLC Representative J. Rodger gave a report from the February 2003 meeting of the National Liaison Committee (NLC) in Ottawa: the NLC and CLCs were formed as a result of a recommendation from the Krever Inquiry the NLC is composed of 25 members, 6 from the CLCs and 17 from stakeholder groups and it acts as an advisory group to the CBS Board of Directors the great effort and expense that CBS has gone to is well worth the value as discussions during the meeting were very candid and intelligent CBS reports to a committee of Provincial and Territorial Ministers of Health; they operate at arms length of the government and provide clear accountability to all stakeholders and the public the next CBS Open Board Meeting will be held on 03 April 2003 in Regina two projects that CBS is currently working on involve: a) the implementation of the MAK Progesa computer system in 2003, and b) the preparation of a submission to Health Canada requesting that donors deferred for a false reactive test be allowed re-entry into the blood system as donors this resulted in the loss of 3,200 donors last year alone it was requested that a presentation on MAK be given to the Winnipeg CLC at their next meeting upcoming NLC meetings are scheduled for 23 June and 27 October 2003; J. Rodger will attend the June meeting in Ottawa and report at the next CLC meeting. J. Rodger thanked everyone for allowing him the opportunity to attend the National meeting. J. Rodger and S. Wood will continue as the delegate and alternate, respectively, to the NLC until the end of 2003, when new members will be selected. FOR ACTION The Laboratory Manager will be requested to do a presentation on the MAK Progesa Computer System at the next CLC Meeting. M. Nichols Discuss the high rate of false TD test results at next meeting. All J. Rodger will attend the NLC Meeting in June and report at the next CLC Meeting. J. Rodger Select a new NLC Representative and Alternate for All Page 3 of 5

4 2. Presentation on West Nile Virus (WNV) An update was given on West Nile Virus (handout distributed) and an overview of what CBS is doing to keep the blood supply safe. WNV is not a new disease; it was first reported in Uganda in the 1930s; the first incidence of WNV in the USA was reported in 1999 and in 2002, the first confirmed case of WNV in humans was reported in Canada 80% of people with WNV acquired the disease through a mosquito bite; it is presumed that the viral load is higher from a mosquito bite than would be likely through a blood transfusion as of February 4, 2003, there have been 19 confirmed cases of WNV, where the cause has been attributed to a blood transfusion WNV is a very hardy virus which makes it easily transmitted from insect to human, whereas the HIV virus is very fragile and cannot be transmitted in the same manner Aggressive spraying of mosquitoes in Winnipeg last summer helped to prevent the first human case in Manitoba of WNV southern Ontario was the hot zone in Canada in 2002 with the most cases reported; confirmed WNV cases were also reported in Quebec; cases of WNV were reported in every state of the USA with the exception of Washington, Idaho and Mexico the spread of the disease is moving westward and all provinces are expected to report WNV cases in the human population in 2003 CBS launched Operation Stockpile to increase fresh frozen plasma collections before mosquito season starts Plasma collected during mosquito season will be sent for fractionation where the virus is destroyed during the processing CBS is developing pamphlets to educate physicians on the many different plasma product types, and their uses stockpiled plasma will be stored in Thunder Bay and PEI in secure locations CBS is expecting to implement a test for WNV, which is currently being developed by Roche, on or about July 1, Donor Retention Presentation A presentation was given on National CBS Donor Retention Strategies, which was developed for the Community Liaison Groups across the country (handout distributed). Hospital demand for blood is increasing by 8% a year, whereas collections are only increasing by approximately 4% a year the increase in demand is attributed to an aging population, more organ transplants surgeries being done, and in an increase in the number of incidences of cancer collections increased by 17-18% during the holiday campaign at Christmas which was aimed at getting donors to bring a friend with them to donate the public has to be educated to know that blood is always needed, not just when CBS makes a request through the media; CBS only uses media appeals in urgent situations to address supply issues More corporate buy-in is needed from large and small companies who should be encouraging their staff to donate blood CBS has piloted a speaker s bureau composed of persons who have personal experience and knowledge of the need for blood donations; these speakers go to schools and offices to reinforce the message that the need for blood is never-ending Page 4 of 5

5 Only 3.5% of Canadians donate blood, whereas 70% of Canadians will need a blood transfusion sometime during their life. 4. Future Topics for Discussion What the Corporate Community can do to support CBS how to approach the corporate community; need employers to support and encourage employees to donate blood How to encourage hospitals and physicians to reduce blood wastage, and the feasibility of using blood substitutes How to raise awareness in the ethnic communities about the need for blood donors from all ethnic backgrounds. Next Meeting Date The next Meeting will be held at Canadian Blood Services, 777 William Avenue, on Tuesday, 16 September 2003 at 2:00 p.m. in Room #113. FOR ACTION Development and distribution of agenda prior to the next meeting. Co-Chairs Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 4:50 p.m. Page 5 of 5