NAT 5 years partnership for safe blood transfusion in the Republic of Bulgaria

NAT technology was introduced in Bulgaria in 2018 through the purchase of 6 automated and integrated systems for performing NAT diagnostics of transmissible infections. The project was part of the National Scientific Program “Development of a methodology for the introduction of NAT technology for the diagnosis of donated blood in the transfusion system of the Republic of Bulgaria” at the Ministry of Education, approved by the Decision of the Council of Ministers dated 15.08.2018.

The project was launched in partnership between the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education and Science and the Scientific Society of Transfusion Hematology.

The event was held with the partnership of the Bulgarian Spanish Chamber of Commerce and the Embassy of Spain in Bulgaria.

Certificates of Appreciation from the Scientific Society of Transfusion Hematology were presented to the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Medicines Executive Agency, the companies Bulmar ML and the Spanish company Grifols.

The former Minister of Health, Mr. Kiril Ananiev, was specially awarded for his services to Transfusion Hematology in Bulgaria.

NAT is the latest technology worldwide for the diagnosis of donor blood for a wide range of transmissible infections such as AIDS, hepatitis A, B, C and E, West Nile fever, etc. This method of testing donor blood for transmissible infections is based on highly sensitive molecular methods to detect the viral DNA or RNA in the blood sample being tested.