Growing with
new challenges
Growth through change
We reached two milestones last year. One was the 1,000th procedure to collect blood stem cells from a donor in Switzerland, which we both supported and celebrated. The other was reached on 1 November 2023: as of that date, the eligibility criteria for donating blood are the same for all donors – regardless of their sexual orientation.
At the same time, we find ourselves confronted by new challenges created by social and demographic changes.
The level of demand for donated blood is falling once again. By contrast, the requirements placed on the regional blood transfusion services and on us, as their national umbrella organisation, are increasing. Testing for new blood-borne pathogens must be continually assessed and expanded. Moreover, there are more and more people living in Switzerland who have a migration background and who need blood products with blood groups that are very rare in this country. Finally, it has become more difficult to motivate Swiss first-time blood donors to become regular donors. These tasks have become significantly more demanding in terms of both personnel and financial resources.
Dr. Bernhard Wegmüller, CEO and Chairman of the Management Board
Swiss Transfusion SRC
Isabelle Chassot, President of the Board of Directors
Swiss Transfusion SRC
The Swiss registry of blood stem cell donors grew again in 2023, but for the third year in a row, not as rapidly as it did in the past. The low number of new registrations is one of the reasons for this. The level of public knowledge about blood stem cell donation and the registry is still quite low. A Switzerland-wide awareness-raising campaign launched in 2023 aims to remedy this situation.
Happily, we are once again able to report a large number of procedures performed to collect blood stem cells for patients in Switzerland and abroad. This, despite an increase in the percentage of registered donors who, when contacted with a concrete request to undergo a blood stem cell collection procedure, were no longer interested in donating. In conjunction with the number of people ruled ineligible on medical grounds, this meant that of every two persons who received a request to donate blood stem cells, only one actually did so.
With the new Omnia software, we have made considerable progress along the path of digital transformation and simplification with regard to the complex processes involved in blood stem cell donation. This path has proven to be more resource intensive than originally foreseen. To meet this challenge, we are initially focussing on those processes in which we can achieve big improvements quickly.
The many changes are placing considerable demands on us. “If the plan doesn’t work, change the plan, but never the goal.” In the spirit of this quote, we continually reassess our services and, when necessary, adjust them so that we can provide everyone in Switzerland with the right blood products and blood stem cells.
Isabelle Chassot
President of the Board of Directors
Swiss Transfusion SRC
Dr. Bernhard Wegmüller
CEO and Chairman of the Management Board
Swiss Transfusion SRC
Campaign «Sei der Match fürs Leben»
“Be the match, for life’s sake” – awareness for blood stem cell donation
Learn more »HIGHLIGHTS
61 employees
Working every day on behalf of blood donation and blood stem cell donation
Learn more »The same blood donation eligibility criteria for everybody
Uniform set of criteria apply nationwide as of 1 November 2023
Learn more »
