Health economics of blood transfusion safety

The HIV/AIDS disaster in transfusion medicine shaped the future agendas for blood transfusion safety. More than ever before, the implementation of interventions which could improve blood transfusion safety was driven merely by availability of technology. The introduction of new expensive technologies guided by the precautionary principle created continuously rising costs of blood donation and transfusion. The monetary investments in transfusion safety could potentially have gained more health in other sectors of the health care system. Next to these opportunity costs involved, increasing costs of blood transfusion may turn alternatives to blood transfusion into a more cost-effective option. The main objective of this thesis is to analyse the relevant parameters which determine the economic and health consequences of blood safety strategies in developed and and developing countries for various actual and potential interventions to enhance blood transfusion safety.