Blood transfusion in the Caribbean: Historical perspective in the context of Trinidad and Tobago.

To compare the historical development of blood transfusion in Britain and a former British West Indian colony. International transfusion bodies recommend national coordination and exclusively voluntary non-remunerated donation as essential pre-requisites for blood safety. These ideals have been achieved in high-income countries including Great Britain, the United States of America and Canada. However, most West Indian countries have fragmented, hospital-based blood services that rely on family replacement and remunerated donors. Comparative historical analysis of blood transfusion service development in Great Britain and Trinidad and Tobago was undertaken to provide insight into their dichotomous development and inform policy decisions to bridge the gap between the two types of transfusion service. The British National Blood Transfusion service was based on voluntary non-remunerated blood donation from its inception but achieved national coordination over 50 years that included a period of regional control during which incoordination contributed to a tainted blood scandal. Failure to establish community voluntary non-remunerated donation in Trinidad and Tobago during the colonial period, before independence in 1962, allowed regionally-controlled family replacement and remunerated blood donation to become entrenched then perpetuated by path dependence. A university-led programme has recently used historically-proven methods, drawing on the experiences of the British National Blood Transfusion Service, to establish a model for developing a voluntary non-remunerated programme. The programme aims to avoid historical pitfalls during its national extension. Historical analysis provided information for introducing voluntary non-remunerated blood donation and planning a nationally-coordinated blood transfusion service.