Message from TBSF President | Sustainability | Taiwan Blood Services Foundation ESG

Every drop of blood contributes to a mighty river. Under the leadership of the government and with the enthusiastic participation of the public, Taiwan's blood services have successfully promoted a voluntary unpaid blood donation movement and dedicated efforts to ensuring the safety of blood products. The abundant results we see today can be traced back to the tireless efforts of our predecessors.

After years of dedication, our organization has not only become a trusted partner in healthcare but also aspires to achieve sustainable operations. Since 2022, I have declared the official launch of our inaugural year of corporate sustainability, establishing the Taiwan Blood Foundation's 'Sustainability Promotion Committee' to implement comprehensive and systematic sustainability practices; we have continued to promote sustainable actions in various areas throughout the year.

In response to the '2050 Net-Zero Transition', our organization references various international standards: GRI, AA1000, SDGs, TCFD, SASB, etc., and through resolutions and consensus in meetings such as the board of directors, the Sustainability Promotion Committee, and management consensus camps, we gradually implement these practices, gaining national recognition. Initiatives such as establishing an eco-friendly blood donation fleet and a friendly blood donation environment earned us the Bronze Award for 'SDG13 Climate Action - Establishment of an Eco-Friendly Blood Donation Fleet' at the '2023 Third Taiwan Sustainability Action Awards'. From 2023, we began gradually updating our fleet to include one oil-electric blood transport vehicle and two large oil-electric hybrid blood donation vehicles. Our organization has also joined the Ministry of Environment's 'Green Office' partners, promoting environmentally friendly printing with soy ink and reducing print quantities; our gifts for blood donors are progressively moving towards 'green procurement', supporting local revitalization or social innovation, thus earning the Ministry of Economic Affairs' 'Buying Power Award for Socially Innovative Products and Services'. Digital transformation is also part of achieving the net-zero transition; our 'Donor Zone' offers blood donors a 24-hour inquiry service, including appointment scheduling, blood donation records, and test reports; our Blood Management Information System (BMS) ensures blood product safety and controls blood information, with significant improvements in precision and efficiency after several revisions; our internal administration has also continued to promote paperless operations, gradually implementing an electronic document system and an online attendance and approval system since 2021.

Our organization is committed to safeguarding blood safety. Since 2013, we have introduced the Nucleic Acid Testing (NAT) alongside traditional serologic testing for HIV, HBV, and HCV; we have not encountered any cases of transfusion-transmitted HIV, HCV, or HBV since then, significantly enhancing blood safety. This achievement earned us the Bronze Award for 'SDG3 Good Health and Well-being - Nucleic Acid Testing Ensures Transfusion Safety' at the '2023 Third Taiwan Sustainability Action Awards'. To reduce transfusion reactions, since 2022, we have exclusively supplied leukoreduced red blood cells; we have also enhanced the testing and labeling of 8 blood cell antigens to improve the timeliness of hospital blood matching and strengthen patient transfusion safety.

The trends of declining birthrates and an aging population are issues our organization must address. From a clinical blood use perspective, we continue to advocate not only for active blood collection but also for promoting 'Patient Blood Management (PBM)' to help clinicians more precisely utilize various blood components, prevent adverse transfusion reactions, and reduce medical costs, achieving more efficient blood usage. In 2020, the 'Essentials of Blood Components' was revised and renamed the 'Lean Transfusion Handbook', with the second edition released in 2022, which was also selected by the Taipei City Medical Association for the 'Good Book Award'.

In addition to targeting eligible blood donors, it is crucial to advocate and educate the next generation; the 'Donate Blood, Save Lives' campaign must continue to ensure a sustainable balance of medical blood supply and demand, encouraging children to be willing to roll up their sleeves in the future. In 2023, we published Taiwan's first blood education book tailored for adolescents, 'The Big Little Person's Blood Lesson', covering aspects of history, society, biotechnology, and health education in an illustrated and easy-to-understand manner, helping youths understand blood donation information and its importance. To encourage reading, we also donated this book to all junior high schools and public libraries nationwide. It is heartening that 'The Big Little Person's Blood Lesson' received the 2023 Openbook Good Book Award, meaning the book has not only become a recommended school purchase but also that blood donation education will continue to root deeply and flourish.

Our employees are always our most important partners. Committed to creating a comprehensive human resource management system, constructing a diverse on-the-job training and education environment, encouraging further education, and providing a safe and friendly workplace and welfare system; our organization and all four blood donation centers across Taiwan have also successively received the National Health Promotion Workplace Certification, and we will continue to promote a friendly workplace and care for our employees' health.

The United Nations proposed 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 as the guidelines for all countries to promote sustainable development by 2030 and respond to the problems and challenges faced by mankind as early as possible. Although we are a medical institution, we are also a member of the earth and should still do our part for the sustainability of our business. Therefore, starting in 2020, we began to promote the importance of corporate social responsibility and corporate sustainability to our colleagues. 2021 was listed as the "Year of Education and Training", focusing on cultivating the relevant knowledge of supervisors. After the resolution made by the supervisors at the consensus camp, the first year of TBSF’s corporate sustainability began in 2022. The Sustainable Development Committee of TBSF was established to plan, execute and supervise the strategies and actions of corporate sustainability of all blood centers to systematically and gradually realize the sustainable goals.

We have always been committed to blood safety and quality assurance. In addition to the comprehensive nucleic acid test (NAT) for HIV, HCV and HBV viruses on the donated blood, we have also continuously introduced mature technology, implemented automated equipment, and strengthened the development of blood technology. In terms of the core blood donation and blood supply business, in order to strengthen the overall quality control, the guidelines of the Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies (AABB) are used as the basic structure, and the ISO 9001, ISO 27001, ISO 15189, PIC/S GMP and GDP certifications. In 2018, we were awarded the right to host the "APEC Blood Safety Policy Forum", which was highly recognized and praised by our international counterparts. We actively participate in international conferences and exchanges, share Taiwan's experiences and achievements, and practice partnership. I also encourage my colleagues to participate in the "Symbol of National Quality (SNQ)" certification. For five years in a row, we won five "National Biotechnology and Medicine Care Quality Awards", which are national level quality assurance.

In terms of blood donor services, TBSF with diverse service innovation concepts and the use of AI, has become the first organization in the world to cooperate with LINE to build an official blood donation portal "Love to Donate Blood", providing intelligent enquiries, personalized services and emergency response. In addition, TBSF has partnered with Facebook to launch the "Facebook Blood Donation Intelligence Station" service in Taiwan, becoming the first country in East Asia to facilitate this service. This has been effective for the diverse promotion of blood donation drives. In 2021, the blood donation rate reached 77.6%, ranking first in the world, and fully met the medical needs. Therefore, the diversified experience in the recruitment of blood donors has been observed and praised in many countries.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, TBSF actively promoted and implemented virus prevention measures. TBSF provided a safe blood donation environment and strengthened communication with all walks of life to allay the public's concerns about blood drives as sufficient blood for medical use is a strong support for the lives and health of the people of the country. Therefore, our blood centers have combined with social resources to continue to raise sufficient blood sources, so that the blood supply will not be interrupted in order to fully support medical needs and serve as the best backing for the medical team.

In view of the fact that global warming and climate change have aroused great international attention, many countries have successively proposed "net zero emissions by 2050" declarations and actions. Based on the concept of environmental sustainability, the fuel-powered blood donation vehicles of our blood centers will be gradually replaced with electric vehicles or designated eco-friendly blood donation vehicles to reduce carbon emissions. After years of efforts combined with social resources, our blood centers currently have 15 fixed-point blood donation vehicles, which are all eco-friendly with an external power supply. In addition to being more environmentally friendly, the comfort of the public when donating blood has been greatly improved. At present, the blood centers still rely on mobile blood donation vehicles for half of their blood volume. Through donations from associations and enterprises, one hybrid and all-electric mobile blood donation vehicle has joined the blood donation process. We will overcome the difficulties and continue to work hard towards the goal of gradually replacing the fuel-engine blood donation vehicles.

As TBSF's goal is to gather the love of all people to accomplish the mission of donating blood to save lives, we are duty-bound to the sustainable development of the blood business. In particular, faced with the post-pandemic era challenges, it is necessary for TBSF to review the relevant operations and service related operations and services, while striving to achieve the goal of sustainable development. Therefore, the purpose of publishing the Corporate Sustainability Report is to review our corporate sustainability actions year by year and plan the direction of future endeavors to achieve a balanced supply and demand of blood for medical use, blood safety, and environmental sustainability, becoming a trusted healthcare partner.