ALC HEALTH LINKS WITH THE BLOOD CARE FOUNDATION

15-Apr-2010

ALC Health has signed an agreement with the Blood Care Foundation (BCF) to provide clients with screened blood, in the event of a medical emergency, from a network of blood banks around the world. The service will be added as a new free benefit to all of the company’s policies, including travel insurance, from 1 June 2010. ALC Health will be the only international medical provider offering the service across all of its policy products.

The BCF is a Sussex based charity that has been established since 1991 to provide a solution to the problems of sourcing and supplying screened blood in the case of emergencies. The BCF has built up a network of blood banks to overcome the demand where blood is in short supply, or the local blood does not meet US, UK and EU standards. All blood supplied by BCF is drawn from internationally recognised blood centres, which meet the highest international standard. BCF also supplies immunoglobulin and vaccine for the treatment of rabies.

Andrew Apps, Director, ALC Health commented:

“Our agreement with the Blood Care Foundation means that, if required, our members are guaranteed screened blood anywhere in the world in an emergency. The increase in incidences of people being given infected blood meant that many of our members were requesting a service of this type. We are delighted to be working with the BCF and now, at no extra cost to our customers, they can be assured that in the event of requiring a blood transfusion the blood will be available within a short space of time and will have been fully screened.”

Julian Bruce of the Blood Care Foundation commented:

“We have provided a service to expatriate communities, holidaymakers and business travellers for some years now and worked alongside insurance providers and international emergency medical care providers. Most countries in the world suffer from a considerable shortage of blood and one of the problems this creates is a delay to evacuation when a patient needs to be moved to receive treatment. This is one of the ways that the Blood Care Foundation is able to help and overcome this problem quickly and efficiently.”

Most recently the Blood Care Foundation was involved in providing blood to Philip Pain whose story was widely reported in the media in the UK when he needed emergency treatment after falling from his balcony in Mexico.

Further details are available by calling +44 (0) 1903 817 970, email [email protected] or visit www.alchealth.com.

For further information on the Blood Care Foundation visit www.bloodcare.org.uk, email [email protected] or telephone +44 (0) 1403 262652

For further press information contact Dee Byrne at [email protected] telephone +44 (0)1293 452 866 or +44 (0)7986 378358.

Press contact for the Blood Care Foundation is Dr Michael Thomas at [email protected] telephone +44 (0)1252 622060 or +44 (0) 7787 534705

Editors notes:

The Facts

- There are only 25 countries in the world where blood is both available and of an acceptable quality (World Health Organisation)

- Most countries in the world suffer from a considerable shortage of blood due to the reluctance of the local inhabitants to donate blood or volunteers being unsuitable because of underlying disease such as anaemia.

- In many countries, even ones with sophisticated health systems, the incidence of transfusion transmitted diseases, such as HIV, hepatitis B and C and malaria, in the donor pools is 1,000 times higher than in the UK.

- Each year approximately 150,000 pregnancy related deaths could be avoided if appropriate transfusion therapy were to be carried out.

- 83% of the global population, living in developing countries, has access to only 40% of the available blood supply, which is collected, in 60% of cases, from paid or replacement donors.

- Blood donations are not tested for transfusion-transmissible infection in more than 43% of cases. This is in contrast to the USA and Europe, where virtually all of the donations come from voluntary non-remunerated low-risk blood donors.

- World-wide, nearly 5% of HIV infections are transmitted through the transfusion of contaminated blood and blood products.

ALC Health

ALC Heath is an international medical insurance company providing insurance to private clients companies and organisations worldwide. ALC Health was built and continues to grow on a philosophy of ensuring that private clients, corporate and intermediaries are all offered a high quality personal service.

A Company profile and product details are available.

The Blood Care Foundation

The Blood Care Foundation is a charitable, not for profit organisation, registered in the United Kingdom. The Foundation operates a Blood Care Programme, which is designed to provide screened blood, in an emergency, to its members in any part of the world.

The programme is designed to alleviate the shortages of blood, which occur in many parts of the developing world. These shortages have numerous causes. Amongst the most important are cultural taboos, financial constraints and a high incidence of transfusion transmitted diseases in the donor pool. Examples of such diseases are HIV I and II, hepatitis B and C and malaria. The provision of blood cover by the Foundation, particularly to expatriate communities, business travelers and their spouses and to holiday-makers, ensure that the local supplies of blood are available to the inhabitants of that particular country.