The National Blood Service is collaborating with the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut of the Federal Republic of Germany on a “Blood Information System for Crisis Intervention and Management (BISKIT)” project. The project aims to build the resilience of Ghana’s blood supply system in Ghana exploring the advantages of digital technology.

Managing blood supply during a crisis is a significant challenge for any Blood Service. This project presents an opportunity for the NBS to prepare adequately for unknown disasters by strengthening its existing crisis management systems. With the advancement of technology, modern digital technology is being used as an enabler to manage a crisis, and the NBS is delighted to be part of this opportunity.

So far, several activities have taken place since the project started in June 2021, including virtual expert interviews, mapping the blood supply chain from “vein to vein”, and exchanging knowledge on blood services and existing crisis management systems and IT infrastructure. These activities have led to the development of an information system demonstrator – the BISKIT tool, an android running application, to aid decision-making in crisis management.

In a recent hybrid meeting held on 27 September 2022 at the NBS headquarters and via zoom, representatives of the BISKIT consortium and key officers of the NBS deliberated on the developed BISKIT application and related tools for critical inputs to adapt the tools to the Ghanaian setting. Also in attendance were representatives of the Food and Drugs Authority and Zipline Ghana, who play crucial roles during crisis management.

The developed information systems were demonstrated and discussed during the meeting. As the project advances, the NBS hopes to integrate these information systems into existing systems or maybe adapt them to processes for which no digital systems are used, such as haemovigilance, strategic planning, donor recruitment and education. The NBS looks forward to the progress and successful completion of the project, as well as the sustainability of these information systems.

In connection with the meeting, the representatives of the BISKIT consortium visited one of the distribution centres of Zipline Ghana in Omenako on 28 September 2022. The visit was to familiarize themselves with the centre’s operations and how it links to emergency response and crisis management in general. They were also introduced to the numerous information systems employed by the centre in its operations.