Fonkou Steve: Building a Trusted Community of Voluntary Blood Donors
Fonkou Steve, Regional Representative for Africa- Global Blood Safety Working Party (Leadership board) at International Society of Blood Transfusion (ISBT), Chief Visionary Officer at Blood Track, shared a post on LinkedIn:
“We don’t have a blood shortage problem.
We have a trust problem.
That may sound uncomfortable, but the data suggests otherwise.
After the September 11 attacks, over 500,000 units of blood were donated within weeks.
Half a million.
Yet only a fraction was used.
So the question is:
- why do people show up in a crisis, but not in calm?
Because in emergencies, trust is immediate:
- ‘My blood will save a life now.’
Outside of crisis, doubt creeps in:
- ‘Will it really be used?’
- ‘Is the system transparent?’
- ‘Can I trust where it’s going?’
Let’s be honest in our field:
We’ve built highly technical, regulated, and structured blood systems…
but we’ve underinvested in public trust.
And when trust is low, behavior follows.
People don’t ignore blood donation.
They delay it until they feel certainty.
That’s why crises don’t create generosity – they temporarily eliminate doubt.
As a transfusion medicine specialist, this is the uncomfortable reality:
- We are not just managing blood supply.
- We are managing belief in the system.
If we want consistent voluntary donation, then we must shift:
From thus too appealing in emergencies.
To thus too proving trust every day.
From thus too asking for blood.
To thus too showing impact and accountability.
Because no guideline, campaign, or policy can replace this:
Trust is the real infrastructure of every blood system.
For donor organizations and healthcare leaders:
Are we building systems people trust in ordinary times…
or systems that only work when fear and urgency take over?”
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