The EBA is guided by 5 core values: Patient Care, Donor Health, Voluntary Non-Remunerated Blood Donation, Openness through Information Sharing and Excellence through Evidence.
Core value statement: Through safe and sustainable supply of blood components, EBA members contribute to the patient’s care.
Explanation: Patient care is the ultimate goal of transfusion medicine: safe and adequate blood supply contributes to a well-functioning professional healthcare system. All actions that EBA members take, should therefore as a first priority aim to improve patient’s care.
Core value statement: EBA members take good care of donors and actively take measures to avoid harm to them.
Explanation: Donors represent a unique source and EBA members have to ensure the continuity of their gift. This can happen only if EBA members take good care of them through being aware of harm that may be caused in the context of donation, donation frequency and taking measures to avoid it. EBA and EBA members are open and transparent and take action to improve where possible donor safety. This could mean e.g. explaining deferral rules to donors and being open in the rationale behind any policy – evidence based.
Core value statement: EBA and EBA members are committed to voluntary non-remunerated donations (VNRD) for sustainable blood, tissues and cells supply for the benefit of donor and patient safety.
Explanation: To protect donors’ and patients’ safety, transactions of human bodily materials should comply with the well acknowledged four principles of biomedical ethics: autonomy, non-maleficence, beneficence and justice. Protection of donor’s dignity, involving the prohibition of making the human body and its parts as such a source of financial gain, has been strongly encouraged by the Council of Europe Oviedo Convention.
Core value statement: EBA shares information to support evidence based decision making and performance improvement of services in blood, tissues and cells.
Explanation: EBA and EBA Members share information within the membership and when agreed, with regulators and other stakeholders with the goal of improving patient and donor care in Europe. Sharing information and collaborative activities leverage the economies of scale. The collateral benefits outweigh the time and manpower invested in joint activities. EBA respects the members’ decision on the use of the disclosed information.
Core value statement: EBA members are striving towards excellence by being innovative, adopting state-of-the-art processes and practices and implementing actions through evidence-based methods. Positions taken by EBA are based on evidence thereby avoiding bias in conclusions.
Explanation: EBA Members constantly monitor whether the set targets for excellence are still relevant and update them from time to time. They implement actions to ensure that the set targets are reached and encourage continuous learning. Excellence in blood products supply chain cannot be characterised merely by high productivity and quality. It means right, evidence based, decisions to contribute to a well-functioning professional healthcare system. When EBA uses the term ‘Evidence based’, it is used in the strict sense of the Cochrane Collaboration.
