Saving Blood, Saving Lives - an innovative rational blood utilization project.

Blood products are essential components of effective healthcare management. However, they are expensive and scarce in many developing countries. In South Africa, several factors are likely to escalate this problem in the future. The "Saving Blood, Saving Lives" Project is an innovative healthcare system that promotes the rational utilization of blood products, improved decision-making, accountability, and quality improvement. It requires no budget and no additional staff. Once implemented, it simply takes a few hours a month to run. The inclusion of the innovative "accountability form" has contributed to its success. The project has significantly reduced the unnecessary administration of blood products, expenditure, and improved the efficient delivery of blood products to those patients who need them most. The project has been adopted and successfully replicated in several other South African hospitals, and is ideally suited to the developing world.