During the 3rd Meeting of the ECO High Level Experts Group on health held 0n 21-22 January in Tehran, the representative of IBTO explained the progress made through ECO Blood Safety Network in the region.

To promote collaboration among national blood services of ECO region, IBTO offered a proposal to establish "ECO Blood Safety Network"(ECOBSN). In April 2010, IBTO and ECO signed an agreement to set up the network. Collecting, analyzing and comparing statistics on blood safety in ECO Member States in order to identify the shortcomings at regional level and to suggest recommendations for improvement was the aim of the first phase of the project which was finalized in January 2014.

Dr. Fariba Seighali, Director of International Affairs Department in IBTO briefed participants on the status of blood safety in the region which is based on the findings of the research project. She also explained the ways forward through ECOBSN and urged member states to involve to the network more actively.