HSANZ News

From Patient Blood Management National Blood Authority:

Public Consultation Open – Single Unit Transfusion Flowchart

The draft Single Unit Transfusion Flowchart has been developed by an expert working group and the National Blood Authority (NBA) as a decision support tool designed to assist clinicians with appropriate prescribing of red blood cells. The International Society for Blood Transfusion defines single unit transfusion as “in the non-bleeding patient, single-unit transfusion refers to a standard dosing scheme of one unit of red blood cells, followed by an assessment of the patient’s signs and symptoms to determine whether additional units are indicated.”

A single unit transfusion policy can ensure the safety and efficacy of red blood cell transfusion by confirming every unit transfused is a clinical decision where the expected benefit outweighs the risks.

Implementing a single unit transfusion policy will help hospitals meet the National Safety and Quality Health Service Blood Management Standard. The Single Unit Transfusion Flow Chart will be available for download from the NBA website once finalised. 

The National Blood Authority invite interested individuals, groups and organisations to comment on the Flowchart and encourage you to advise your colleagues of its availability for public comment. The Flowchart will not be mandatory but available as a tool for Australian health providers implementing a single unit transfusion policy. 

The draft Flowchart and comments template are available on the NBA’s website at: http://www.blood.gov.au/public-consultation

The closing date for submissions is 5pm Friday 5 August 2022.

HSANZ and a number of other societies have been lobbying for the reimbursement of NGS for myeloproliferative neoplasm. I’m pleased to say that this has been approved for ET/ PV (item 73398) and transplant eligible myelofibrosis (item 73399). Please contact your friendly haematopathology service for details about testing and availability. 

Best wishes
Steven Lane – on behalf HSANZ

The second Australasian COVID-19 Conference will be held in Sydney at the

Sheraton Grand Sydney Hyde Park on 21-22 July 2022

For full information: https://www.covid-19conference.com.au/

The Malaysian Society of Haematology, have asked us to inform you that they will be hosting the 19th Annual Scientific Meeting 2022virtually at https://mshaema.com/ from the 9 to 11 August 2022. 

The theme of the virtual meeting is Cell Based Therapies: The New Frontier In Personalized And Targeted Therapy. This theme was chosen specifically to 
focus on sharing the latest developments in the field of Cell Therapy. After 2 years of lockdown where everyone has been rightly focused on COVID-19, it 
is now time for recovery and to shine the spotlight on the developments that have quietly taken place in the field.

To register: https://mshaema.com/registration

Hui-Peng Lee, on behalf of the Blood Cancer Task Force, of which HSANZ is a member of the steering committee, invites expressions of interest from heamatologists and nurses  to join the Optimal Care Pathways  working groups for the following diseases (with lead clinicians):

• Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) - Dr Carrie Van Der Weyden & Dr Dejan Radeski
• Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPN) – A/Prof Kate Burbury & Prof Steven Lane
• AL Amyloidosis – A/Professor Peter Mollee & Dr Fiona Kwok
• Acute Lymphocytic Leukaemia (ALL) - Dr Shaun Fleming & Dr Caroline Mcnamara
• Waldenstrom Macroglobulinemia/LPL – Prof Judith Trotman & Dr Nicole Wong Doo

Blood2022 Abstracts Close in Two Days!

Submissions will close at 8pm AEST Friday 27th May so make sure you don’t miss the deadline and submit your abstract now. No further extensions will be possible.

Authors will be notified of the outcome of the review process at the end of July.

We look forward to welcoming you to the BLOOD Scientific Meeting 2022 in September.

www.blood2022.com

NHMRC Centre for Blood Transplant and Cell Therapies Webinar 30 May 2022

The Centre for Blood Transplant and Cell Therapies (CBTCT) brings together the largest allogeneic stem cell transplant units in Australia with a focus on identifying transplant and cell therapy strategies to reduce graft versus host disease and improve patient and disease outcomes after transplant. In this webinar series, speakers will review major topics in stem cell transplantation and cell therapy, highlighting how key advances are addressing the current challenges in stem cell transplantation. This webinar features Professor Nicolaus Kroger, who is the Medical Director of the Department of Stem Cell Transplantation and Professor of Medicine at the University Medical Center in Hamburg-Eppendorf, Germany. Since 2018, he has served as the President of the European Society of Blood and Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), and the a co-editor of the EBMT Handbook and the EBMT/EHA CAR-T cell Handbook. From 2014 – 2020 he was the chairman of the German Stem Cell Working Group, and is an active member of several Scientific Committees such as ASH, EHA and ESH. Professor Kroger has published extensively in his area of expertise and contributed to more than 750 publications. In this webinar, Professor Kroger will be comparing the roles of haploidentical and matched unrelated donor stem cell transplantation in acute myeloid leukaemia.

Speaker:

Professor Nicolaus Kroger – University Medical Center, Hamburg-Eppendorf

When: Monday 30 May 2022, 5pm AEST

Brochure with full information here

Link to webinar:

https://uni-sydney.zoom.us/j/83782538124

Link to CBTCT website for all webinar recordings:

https://bloodcelltherapy.org.au/

A reminder there's only one week to go until submissions for BLOOD 2022 close on Wednesday 18 May 2022. 

Don’t miss out on making a contribution to the Meeting and presenting your work to peers in the wide field of blood sciences across Australia and New Zealand.

You have until 8pm AEST Wednesday 18 May 2022 to submit your abstract.

A variety of awards and travel grants are also available. To ensure you are eligible, view the criteria for these awards here

We look forward to welcoming you to the BLOOD Scientific Meeting 2022 in September.

On behalf of the 2022 Local Organising Committee

Australia and New Zealand Consensus Position Statement: Use of COVID-19 therapeutics in patients with Haematological malignancies

Attached is the final version of the above consensus position statement. Click here for document

The Australian Amyloidosis Network (AAN) board members are inviting you for the official launch of the AAN as a Company by Limited Guarantee. This special free virtual zoom meeting will also celebrate National Amyloidosis Day and include an education meeting for patients and their families. Please feel free to forward the invitation on to anyone who may be interested in this event.

Details as attached. Please follow the instructions for registration (Register via the AAN website: https://aan.org.au/ ).