Haemovigilance (HV) comprises surveillance procedures covering the whole transfusion chain from collection of blood (components) to follow-up of its recipients. It assesses information on undesirable transfusion effects to prevent their occurrence. This includes local venepuncture accidents, iron depletion, graft vs. host disease and mild to severe transfusion reactions. The HV definitions aim to standardize and report all these events in order to improve blood safety.
Current Leadership
Simon Benson
Simon is Scientific Lead with the Clinical Education Team (CET) at Australian Red Cross Lifeblood and is based in Sydney. He is a part of a multidisciplinary team that provides resources and education to support Australian health professionals in safe, effective and appropriate transfusion. Simon is a member of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Blood Transfusion (ANZSBT) ‘Transfusion Science Committee’ and a former councillor and President of the Society.
Simon trained as a Biomedical Scientist in the UK and is a Fellow of the Institute of Biomedical Science (FIBMS). He has worked in national transfusion services and hospital transfusion laboratories in the UK, New Zealand and Australia, gaining a broad and varied range of experience in the collection, manufacture, testing and clinical use of blood and blood products.
His current interests include adverse transfusion events, haemovigilance, and the interaction between blood services and the external health environment. Before moving to Australia, Simon was responsible for developing, implementing, and administering the ‘New Zealand National Haemovigilance Programme’, presenting data from the programme at various national and international meetings.
Simon is a member of the ISBT ‘Haemovigilance Working Party’ and Chair of the International Haemovigilance Network (IHN) ‘Seminar Committee’.
Sadhana Mangwana
With more than 37 years of expertise, I am currently working as Director, Department of Transfusion Medicine and Immunohematology in New Delhi, India. With a focus on Quality Management Systems, our department is affiliated with postgraduate teaching (Diplomat of National Board) and transfusion medicine research and serves tertiary care, super specialty, and oncology hospitals. I am a member of the National Hemovigilance Program of India's Executive Committee. I am the recipient of the prestigious “AABB President’s Award, 2022”.
I am the Chairperson of the AATM's Patient Blood Management Working Group, the Co-Chair of the AATM's Quality Working Group and the Treasurer of the Asian Association of Transfusion Medicine (AATM) (India Chapter). I am Certified Assessor for National Accreditation Programs of Hospital, Blood Bank, and Laboratory by the Quality Council of India (NABH & NABL). I am an editor and reviewer of journals. I have given lectures at national and international forums and served as a guest faculty member.
My experience will enable me to collaborate with others in the team to support their efforts to promote "no-fault" reporting, acknowledge the epidemiology of infectious diseases in donors as a crucial component of hemovigilance, use blood appropriately, establish a close connection with bio-vigilance, create professional educational programs, learning resources, and publications, and raise public awareness and education.
Mark Fung
I was part of the original multi-organizational group led by the AABB that helped develop and implement the US hemovigilance system in 2014 and continue to remain interested in promoting the standardization and reporting of transfusion reactions and transfusion-related errors. Relevant leadership experiences include being the Chair of the AABB Hemovigilance Committee 2016-2020, Chair of the AABB Biovigilance Recipient Working Group (2011-2014), and Chair of the AABB Patient Safety Organization (PSO) Advisory Working Group (2014-2016) where we continued to monitor and provide feedback on transfusion reactions and transfusion-related errors. I was also the BEST Collaborative Co-team leader for Transfusion Studies/Clinical Transfusion Studies (2010-2022), where I gained experience working with transfusion medicine specialists globally on multi-institutional projects. I was also the Chair of the AABB Clinical Transfusion Medicine Committee (2010-2012) being involved in supporting the development of several transfusion guidelines and advising the leadership team at the AABB. I also remain active in the International Collaborative on Transfusion Medicine Guidelines (ICTMG) as an executive committee member with continued development and updates to transfusion guidelines to be used internationally. I am also an active educator and mentor and have co-written transfusion medicine curriculum documents for residents and medical students. I am also currently a trustee of the American Board of Pathology.
Relevant past hemovigilance accomplishments under my leadership or mentoring include the following:
- Analyses of transfusion reactions and transfusion-related errors
- Development of hemovigilance definitions and codes for under-transfusion.
- Development of a standardized transfusion reaction reporting form for hospital reporting of reactions that would be of interest to blood centers.
- Examination of ChatGPT’s ability to categorize transfusion reactions.
Relevant publications of projects that I have led or contributed to significantly include the following:
- Heddle, N.M., Fung, M., Hervig, T., Szczepiorkowski, Z.M., Torretta, L., Arnold, E., Lane, S., Murphy, M. 2012. Challenges and opportunities to prevent transfusion errors: a qualitative evaluation for safer transfusion (QUEST). Transfusion 52: 1687-1695.
- AuBuchon, J.P., Fung, M., Whitaker, B., Malasky, J. 2014. American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) Validation Study of the CDC National Healthcare Safety Network’s Hemovigilance Module Adverse Events Definitions Protocol. Transfusion 54: 2077-2083.
- AuBuchon, J.P., Fung, M.K., Perez, G., Whitaker, B. 2017. Classification of posttransfusion adverse events using a Web-based algorithm. Transfusion 57(2):489-490.
- Vossoughi, V., S., Perez, G., Whitaker, B.I., Fung, M.K., Stotler, B. (2018) Analysis of Pediatric Adverse Reactions to Transfusions (APART). Transfusion 58(1): 60-69.
- Vlaar, A.P.J., Toy, P., Fung, M., Looney, M.R., Juffermans, N.P., Bux, J., Bolton-Maggs, P., Peters, A.L., Silliman, C.C., Kor, D.J., Kleinman S. A consensus redefinition of transfusion- related acute lung injury (TRALI) using the Delphi method. Transfusion 59(7): 2465-2476.
- Vossoughi, S., Perez, G., Whitaker, B.I., Fung, M.K., Rajbhandary, S., Crews, N., Stotler, B. (2019). Safety incident reports associated with blood transfusions. Transfusion 59(9): 2827- 2832.
- Rajbhandary, S., Andrzejewski, C., Fridey, J., Stotler, B., Tsang, H.C., Hindawi, S., Reddy,O., Medina, M.C., Razatos, A., Narayan, S., Fung, M. (2022) Incorporating the entity of under-transfusion into hemovigilance monitoring: Documenting cases due to lack of inventory. Transfusion 2022 March; 62(3):540-545.
- Fung MK, AuBuchon JP, Stephens LD. Classification of posttransfusion adverse events using a publicly available artificial intelligence system. Transfusion. 2024 April;64(4):590-596.
Annual Report
Click the link below to read the Report of the Haemovigilance Working Party for 2024/2025.
