Law setting up the National Blood System
Brasilia, March 22, 2001

In accordance with the principles of universal care offered by the Unified Health System (SUS), the Blood Law establishes the National Blood System (SINASAN) at the Federal, State and Municipal levels.

Each of the three different administrative levels of government will have separate functions - basic requirements for the correct functioning of the sector. The Federal Government will regulate and formulate National Blood Policy overall.

The individual States will be responsible for enforcing the Law, for managing the blood-related premises and for carrying out the policy and for giving official sanction to a blood-bank network within a period of 180 days. The latter comprises establishments working with blood
Municipal administrations will be responsible for planning and supplying blood derivatives and for inspecting the local establishments, among other duties. The operational bodies which deal with all procedures concerned with blood, from collection to processing, will form part of SINASAN.

In Article 8, the Law establishes that the National Blood, Components and Blood Products Policy, to be given formal approval by the Ministry of Health, shall have as its main mission that of guaranteeing of self- sufficiency of these products in Brazil. In this respect, the Ministry of Health has taken the first steps by scheduling the building of two blood products manufacturing plants, which are now at the physical planning stage, including the selection of the production technology to be used.

Within three years, the plants will be responsible for producing components and blood derivatives such as coagulation factors, albumen and immunoglobins which will meet current demand in this country for this type of product. When production in Brazil is fully on stream, this will produce annual savings of about R$150 million, given the fact that at the moment 98% of these products are purchased from abroad.

The new Law will also standardize the quality of care in the national blood network by means of the formulation of human resources policies which will assure the employment of well trained professional technical staff in the different units dealing with blood throughout Brazil.