Apheresis in Developing Countries Around the World Quentin Eichbaum, 1 * W. Martin Smid, 2 Robert Crookes, 3 Norris Naim, 4 Alfredo Mendrone Jr., 5 Jos  e Francisco Comenalli Marques Jr., 6 and Marisa B. Marques 7 1 Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Nashville, Tennessee 2 Department of Transfusion Medicine, Sanquin Blood Bank, Amsterdam, The Netherlands 3 Independent Transfusion Medicine Consultant, South Africa 4 Consultant Pathology (Haematology) and Quality Manager, National Blood Centre, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Kuala Lampur, Malaysia 5 Fundac¸~ ao Pr  o-Sangue Hemocentro de S~ ao Paulo, University of S~ ao Paulo, S~ ao Paulo, Brazil 6 Blood Center of the State University of Campinas, Campinas, SP, Brazil 7 Department of Pathology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama At the combined American Society for Apheresis (ASFA) Annual Meeting/World Apheresis Association (WAA) Congress in San Francisco, California, in April of 2014, the opening session highlighted the status of apheresis outside of the United States. The organizers invited physicians active in apheresis in countries not usually repre- sented at such international gatherings to give them a forum to share their experiences, challenges, and expecta- tions in their respective countries with regard to both donor and therapeutic apheresis. Apheresis technology is expensive as well as technically and medically demanding, and low and median income countries have different experiences to share with the rest of the world. Apheresis procedures also require resources taken for granted in the developed world, such as reliable electrical power, that can be unpredictable in parts of the developing world. On the other hand, it was obvious that there are significant disparities in access to apheresis within the same country (such as in Brazil), as well as between neighboring nations in Africa and South America. A com- mon trend in the presentations from Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nigeria, and South Africa, was the need for more and better physicians and practitioners’ training in the indications of the various apheresis modalities and patient oversight during the procedures. As ASFA and WAA continue to work together, and globalization allows for increased knowledge-sharing, improved access to apheresis procedures performed by qualified person- nel with safety and high-quality standards will be increasingly available. J. Clin. Apheresis 00:000–000, 2014. V C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Key words: Africa; South Africa; Malaysia; Brazil; donor apheresis; therapeutic apheresis INTRODUCTION “Apheresis Around the World” was the title of the opening plenary session of the 15th World Association for Apheresis (WAA) Congress at the American Soci- ety for Apheresis (ASFA) 2014 Annual Meeting. The session was intended to provide insight into the status of therapeutic and donor apheresis in low and middle income countries (LMICs). Apheresis conferences in the US and Europe have to date focused mostly on applications of this sophisticated technology in devel- oped countries where the instrumentation has been implemented for some decades and the protocols gen- erally well-defined. This conference session aimed at gaining an understanding of the status of apheresis technologies, methodologies, and quality assurance in developing countries. As technology and healthcare systems advance in the developing countries, the implementation of sus- tainable apheresis programs has become more feasible. Disease profiles in certain regions, such as malaria and sickle cell disease in Africa, as well as the alarming increase in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in these countries has also rendered apheresis an essential component of standard of care. Treatment of hemato- logical malignancies through peripheral blood stem cell transplants is being increasingly within reach of health care practice in even some low income countries. Appropriate standardization, and quality control and assurance are, however, essential for effective and sus- tainable therapy. In LMICs, the affordability and cost-effectiveness of therapeutic and donor apheresis remains an important and pressing question requiring thoughtful analysis. The *Correspondence to: Quentin Eichbaum, Department of Pathology, Microbiology and Immunology, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, TVC 4511C, Nashville, TN 37232-0242, USA. E-mail: quentin.eichbaum@vanderbilt.edu Received 27 September 2014; Accepted 30 September 2014 Published online 00 Month 2014 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/jca.21368 V C 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Journal of Clinical Apheresis 00:00–00 (2014)