Rare blood donors: the past and the future.

For many years, there has been a clinical requirement for the provision of units of rare blood for patients with either single or multiple blood group antibodies present. To co-ordinate this need, the Rare Blood Donor Working Party of the International Society of Blood Transfusion was established in 1985. Since then, the Working Party has been active in promoting information on the procedures and methods for testing, packaging, transport and delivery of rare blood internationally. The Working Party has a close relationship with the Blood Group Reference Laboratory in the United Kingdom. The availability of the World Health Organization International Donor Panel permits the rapid and accurate locating of rare blood units. The Rare Blood Donor Working Party conducts surveys, attends to technical queries and is active in education. This can assist countries that are upgrading their blood services and give them a greater understanding of the international help available when confronted with a difficult-to-transfuse patient. In the future, it is anticipated that a wider range of countries will contribute to the International Donor Panel. It is likely that with the many major population movements throughout the world and the potential consequent development of rare antibodies or mixtures of antibodies, the need for the availability of rare blood donations will remain for the foreseeable future.