Every day in rural Mali, women with childbirth complications and children with severe malaria risk dying because safe blood is unavailable. Since June 2024, Initiative 3 Zeros has transformed blood access in Yanfolila, screening 3,265 donors, securing 2,788 safe blood units, saving 1,799 patients-including 575 children and 622 women with obstetric emergencies-and achieving zero deaths, zero blood shortages, and zero referrals due to lack of blood. Help us sustain and expand this proven model.
In 2023, RSPP assessed blood needs at Yanfolila District Hospital and found critical gaps: only 58% of blood requests were met, leaving 42% unmet, mostly among patients with severe anemia. That year, five women died from obstetric emergencies because lifesaving blood was unavailable. Many other patients were referred over 300 km to Bamako or went untreated due to blood shortages, lack of donors, or poverty, highlighting the urgent need for a reliable local blood supply system.
RSPP's Initiative 3 Zeros builds a sustainable, community-led blood system by organizing regular blood drives, recruiting and training voluntary donors, supplying transfusion materials, screening all donated blood for transfusion-transmissible infections, strengthening health worker capacity, and mobilizing communities. Over two years, this model achieved zero blood shortages, zero deaths, and zero referrals due to lack of blood in Yanfolila District.
It will aim to meet 100% of transfusion needs, scale donor screening, and extend infection control. The voluntary donor network will cover more communes. Medical outreach will grow, with a focus on preventing maternal and child deaths. Community awareness via media will deepen behavioral change. Training efforts will further strengthen local capacity and resilience in underserved areas, laying the groundwork for long-term health equity and self-reliance.
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