Ashenafi Tazebew Amare: From Blood Donation to Innovation and Patient Access
Ashenafi Tazebew Amare, Director General of Ethiopian Blood and Tissue Bank Service, shared a post on LinkedIn:
”Beyond Blood Donation: From Donation to Innovation
Every Ethiopian who donates blood expects it to save one life.
What if it could also help build the capacity to save a thousand more?
The Ethiopian Blood and Tissue Bank Service (EBTBS) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Armauer Hansen Research Institute (AHRI) to collaborate on research, innovation, capacity building, product development, blood and tissue safety, and technology transfer.
This is more than a signing ceremony.
It marks a shift in how we think about donated blood.
For years, our focus has rightly been access — ensuring every patient can rely on safe, adequate blood through voluntary donation.
That foundation doesn’t change.
But collection and transfusion alone are no longer enough.
We must ask: how do we create more value from every donation an Ethiopian makes?
Blood and plasma aren’t only life-saving in the moment.
They are raw material for scientific innovation and for advanced biological products Ethiopia currently imports.
Our vision: progressively build EBTBS into an integrated national institution spanning blood components, plasma-derived medicinal products, tissue and stem cell banking, cellular therapies, and beyond.
With AHRI, we will strengthen the science behind that vision — starting with mini pool production of pathogen-reduced IVIG (IVIG-PR) using V.I.P.S. Technology, laboratory and GMP capacity, transfusion-transmissible infection surveillance, clinical research, training, and technology transfer.
The pathway is clear: Research to Innovation to Product Development to Local Production to Patient Access
This isn’t only about local manufacturing. It’s about health security, scientific self-reliance, and resilient access to the biological products Ethiopian patients need.
My thanks to AHRI’s leadership Prof. Afework Kassu Gizaw and his team, and to our EBTBS colleagues for making this collaboration possible.
Our donors give more than blood.
They give us the raw material to save lives today — and the opportunity to build the capacity to save many more tomorrow.
From donation to discovery.
From discovery to innovation.
From innovation to production.”
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