Canadian Hemophilia Society Meeting the challenge

Safe and secure blood supplyTHE CHS IS THE LEADING patient organization in Canada toindependently monitor the safety and supply of blood and bloodproducts within the Canadian blood system. To help ensureall Canadians have access to safe blood products in adequate supply,CHS representatives participate actively and continue to be a strongvoice on Health Canada, Canadian Blood Services, Héma-Québec andprovincial government blood advisory committees.Commemorationof theTainted BloodTragedyIn 2007, the CHS launched a program to commemorate the tainted blood tragedy... lest we forget. As part of this initiative,commemorative Trees of Life have been planted each year since then.In 2011, the CHS continued to build its forest of commemorative trees across the country…Canadian Hemophilia Society▪ To remember and pay tribute to those whosuffered and lost their lives as a result of thetainted blood tragedy and to emphasize theimportance of maintaining a safe and secureblood supply, members of the Toronto andCentral Ontario Region volunteered to planttrees at a public planting in Heathercrest. Aprivate ceremony followed with a movingspeech by Antonia “Smudge” Swann, widowof James Kreppner, a victim of this terribletragedy. The trees planted at the park were asymbol of the strength and resilience of theinherited bleeding disorder community.The occasion allowed for reflection and amoment of inner peace while bringingtogether long-time members for a chance toreconnect.▪To contribute to a safe blood system for all Canadians, we continued our vigilance asthe “watchdog” of the blood system and published the 2008-2010 Report Card onCanada’s Blood System. This is the fifth report card to be released since the reform ofthe blood system in 1998 following the Krever Commission. For the complete report,please visit our Web site at www.hemophilia.ca/en/safe--secure-blood-supply.2008-2010REPORT CARDONCANADA’SBLOOD SYSTEMPREPARED BY THEBlood PREPARED Safety BY THE and Supply CommitteeOF THE Blood Safety and Supply CommitteeCanadian OF THE Hemophilia SocietyCanadian Hemophilia SocietyJANUARY 27, 2011JANUARY 27, 201114A D V O C A T E F O R A C C E S S T O A S E C U R E S U P P LY O F T H E S A F E S T A N D M O S TE F F I C A C I O U S T H E R A P I E S F O R T R E A T M E N T O N I N H E R I T E D B L E E D I N G D I S O R D E R S.