{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,18]],"date-time":"2026-05-18T15:08:06Z","timestamp":1779116886879,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":29,"publisher":"Wiley","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,13]],"date-time":"2026-05-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778630400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,13]],"date-time":"2026-05-13T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1778630400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Transfusion Medicine"],"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background and Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Adequate blood supply remains a challenge in sub\u2010Saharan Africa (SSA). Malawi has a 13% shortfall in required blood supplies. Innovative recruitment and retention strategies are crucial to ensuring a sufficient number of donors and blood supply. We explored alternative approaches to enhance blood donation in Malawi to bridge the gap.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>A qualitative exploratory design was utilised with a sample of 135 participants purposively selected in eight districts, in the Northern, Central, Southern and Eastern regions of Malawi. Data were collected using in\u2010depth interviews with 20 participants (first\u2010time and repeat donors, lapsed and non\u2010donors), 20 key informant interviews with community, policy\u2010level stakeholders, Malawi Blood Transfusion Service (MBTS) staff and 16 focus group discussions (involving 95 participants). Thematic content analysis was used to categorise the strategies, and a qualitative software data package (NVivo version 12) was used to organise the qualitative data.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Donor education emerged as a key strategy for donor recruitment and retention. Other strategies included the formation of blood donor clubs in secondary schools and for post\u2010secondary students, accountability mechanisms related to blood: its collection and management of blood and blood products, the provision of incentives and youth\u2010friendly motivation strategies, including school competitions (quizzes and sports) and entertainment.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The study emphasised the significance of blood donor education in encouraging blood donation. Participants' views suggest that developing innovative approaches for education to increase awareness and understanding of blood\u2010donation processes may help motivate more individuals to donate. In addition, participants suggested other youth\u2010friendly approaches to support blood donor recruitment, including providing incentives preferred by young people, introducing intra\u2010school competitions and incorporating entertainment activities. These insights point to the potential value of developing innovative strategies to support blood donor recruitment efforts.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1111\/tme.70089","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,13]],"date-time":"2026-05-13T14:30:24Z","timestamp":1778682624000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Alternative strategies to promote voluntary blood donation in secondary schools in Malawi: Enhancing participation and impact\u2014Malawi BLOODSAFE program"],"prefix":"10.1111","author":[{"given":"Princess","family":"Kaira","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Reproductive Health Kamuzu University of Health Sciences  Blantyre Malawi"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Patani","family":"Mhango","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Reproductive Health Kamuzu University of Health Sciences  Blantyre Malawi"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Effie","family":"Chipeta","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Reproductive Health Kamuzu University of Health Sciences  Blantyre Malawi"},{"name":"School of Global Public Health Kamuzu University of Health Sciences  Blantyre Malawi"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Emmanuel","family":"Singogo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of North Carolina (UNC) Project  Lilongwe Malawi"},{"name":"School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill  Chapel Hill North Carolina USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Victor","family":"Mwapasa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Global Public Health Kamuzu University of Health Sciences  Blantyre Malawi"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Adamson","family":"Muula","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Global Public Health Kamuzu University of Health Sciences  Blantyre Malawi"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Titus","family":"Chiwindo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of North Carolina (UNC) Project  Lilongwe Malawi"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mina C.","family":"Hosseinipour","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"University of North Carolina (UNC) Project  Lilongwe Malawi"},{"name":"School of Medicine, Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill  Chapel Hill North Carolina USA"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Bridon","family":"Mbaya","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Malawi Blood Transfusion Service  Blantyre Malawi"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"311","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,13]]},"reference":[{"key":"e_1_2_11_2_1","unstructured":"LouaA NikiemaJB KasiloOMJ Tayou.Blood safety and availability in the WHO African region. Glob Surg [Internet].20184(4). Available from:https:\/\/www.oatext.com\/blood-safety-and-availability-in-the-who-african-region.php. [cited 2024 May 1]"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_3_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/trf.14949"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_4_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.tmrv.2011.07.006"},{"issue":"1","key":"e_1_2_11_5_1","first-page":"14","article-title":"Blood transfusion in sub\u2010Saharan Africa: historical perspective, clinical drivers of demand and strategies for increasing availability","volume":"23","author":"Ugwu AO","year":"2021","journal-title":"Afr Sanguine"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_6_1","unstructured":"World health Organisation (WHO).Blood safety and availability [Internet]. Report.2025.https:\/\/www.who.int\/news-room\/fact-sheets\/detail\/blood-safety-and-availability?utm_source=chatgpt.com"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_7_1","volume-title":"Towards 100% voluntary blood donation: a global framework for action","author":"World Health Organization","year":"2010"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_8_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/jvh.13073"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_9_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4314\/jmbs.v4i1.2"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_10_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1101\/2024.06.20.24309241"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_11_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/tme.13110"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_12_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0295600"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_13_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/tme.13006"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_14_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/tme.12629"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_15_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/trf.17091"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_16_1","unstructured":"UNICEF for Every child.Malawi education fact sheets analyses for learning and equity using MICS data. Report.2022.https:\/\/data.unicef.org\/resources\/mics\u2010education\u2010analysis\u2010for\u2010global\u2010learning\u2010and\u2010equity\/(Accessed on 11 December 2025)"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_17_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1365\u20103148.2011.01079.x"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_18_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.4103\/nmj.NMJ_177_19"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_19_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/voxs.12551"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_20_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2147\/JBM.S521698"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_21_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s13104\u2010018\u20103786\u20107"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_22_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/vox.70013"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_23_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.afjem.2016.02.003"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_24_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.31893\/humanitj.2024009"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_25_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socscimed.2022.115485"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_26_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.21315\/mjms2022.29.6.17"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_27_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.2450\/2012.0058\u201012"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_28_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.socscimed.2021.113681"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_29_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/hsr2.426"},{"key":"e_1_2_11_30_1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140\u20106736(23)01164\u20109"}],"container-title":["Transfusion Medicine"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1111\/tme.70089","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/full-xml\/10.1111\/tme.70089","content-type":"application\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/pdf\/10.1111\/tme.70089","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,18]],"date-time":"2026-05-18T14:30:29Z","timestamp":1779114629000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/tme.70089"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,13]]},"references-count":29,"alternative-id":["10.1111\/tme.70089"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1111\/tme.70089","archive":["Portico"],"relation":{},"ISSN":["0958-7578","1365-3148"],"issn-type":[{"value":"0958-7578","type":"print"},{"value":"1365-3148","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,13]]},"assertion":[{"value":"2025-07-16","order":0,"name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2026-04-23","order":2,"name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2026-05-13","order":3,"name":"published","label":"Published","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}}],"article-number":"tme.70089"}}