Facilitators of and barriers to blood donation among voluntary non-remunerated blood donors in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review.

Background and objectives: In many countries, including Africa, the widespread gap between national blood requirements and actual blood supplies contributes to unnecessary deaths. This scoping review explores common facilitators and barriers to blood donation in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and strategies that are used to increase and maintain repeat blood donation.

Materials and methods: We conducted a scoping review of facilitators and barriers to blood donation in SSA. We searched PubMed, Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid EMBASE and COCHRANE to identify relevant papers. Of the 2225 articles screened by title, abstract and papers published after 2010, 37 were included in the final full-text screening. Article quality for inclusion was assessed on the basis of a predefined eligibility and inclusion checklist. We analysed all papers that reported barriers and facilitators to blood donation in Africa.

Results: The review included 11 studies. The common facilitators for blood donation reported were altruism, the opportunity for disease testing, friendly recruitment strategies and future easy access to blood at hospitals when needed. We identified the following barriers: lack of knowledge, awareness of blood donation and place of donation, fear, ineffective incentives, bad service experiences and religious and cultural beliefs.

Conclusion: Findings of this review can be used to propose better strategies for improving blood donation in SSA. Strategies that encourage blood donation can be leveraged and implemented, while those that discourage blood donation can be adapted to better achieve an adequate supply.