The WHO Blood Transfusion Safety Programme, in collaboration with the WHO Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), the WHO country office in Brazil, and with the collaboration and generous support of the Government of Brazil, is planning to convene the next WHO Global Forum for Blood Safety in Sao Paulo, Brazil, from 4 to 6 March 2013.

WHO established this global forum as a mechanism to foster collaboration, enhance communication and information exchange among key international experts, institutions, organizations and other stakeholders working on blood safety issues.

The forum meets once every two years to deliberate on a specific topic relevant to the global blood safety concerns, in order to make structured observations and identify priorities for action at national and international levels. Among others, the key themes for this forum are blood system reforms for universal access, quality management, and risk assessment and management for blood safety.