Design and deployment of a blood safety monitoring tool

Blood is a scarce resource critical to the management of a variety of life-threatening medical conditions. It can also be a medium for the transmission of infections, including HIV. Monitoring the quality and quantity of available blood, essential to utilizing it as effectively as possible, has been a challenge in many developing countries. This paper describes the design and implementation of a Web-based tool to monitor the collection, screening and distribution of blood in developing countries. This project was conducted under the auspices of the US President´s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which funds blood safety projects in 14 countries in Africa and the Caribbean. We report results from a usability study, formulate relevant design principles and discuss prospects for long-term sustainability.