Blood given in Africa should heal in Africa.
Every year, Africa throws away more than a million litres of plasma that could become life-saving medicine. Ustawi Foundation works with blood services, health systems and partners to change that, and to strengthen care for the patients who need it most.
The world runs on plasma. Africa supplies almost none of it.
litres of plasma for medicines, about 3 litres every second.
litres of recovered plasma thrown away.
litres turned into medicines on the continent.
For every litre of plasma Africa turns into medicine, about three are discarded. Only South Africa fractionates locally collected plasma, and most countries import every plasma-derived medicine they use.
Estimate, not a measurement. Global: about 90 million litres collected for fractionation in 2024 (IPFA/Hotchko 2025), grown at 6% a year. Africa discarded: more than 1,000,000 L a year (WHO AFRO 2022, cited by Moftah 2024). Africa fractionated: about 312,000 L a year (Moftah 2024). Counters run from 1 January at a constant rate. Method and sources
One donation, two possible futures
Each whole-blood donation holds about 250 mL of plasma. What happens in the first hours decides whether it becomes medicine or medical waste.
Donated
A volunteer gives blood at a clinic or community drive.
Separated
Red cells go to patients. Plasma is spun off.
Frozen in time
Within 6 to 72 hours, or its value is lost.
Becomes medicine
For intensive care, cancer wards, maternity units and snakebite or rabies emergencies.
Or is discarded
Without freezers, testing and a route to a fractionator, it is incinerated.
One donation can reach the ICU, the cancer ward and the maternity unit
Plasma proteins cannot be made in a factory. They come only from donors, and they treat patients across almost every part of the hospital.
Critical care and trauma
Albumin restores blood volume in shock, burns and major surgery. Clotting concentrates stop life-threatening bleeding and reverse blood thinners in emergencies.
Cancer care
Leukaemia, lymphoma, myeloma and their treatments weaken the immune system. Immunoglobulin protects patients from infections, and supports recovery after stem cell transplants.
Mothers and newborns
Anti-D immunoglobulin protects babies of Rh-negative mothers from a severe blood disease. Hepatitis B immunoglobulin stops mothers passing the virus to newborns.
Bleeding disorders
People with haemophilia and von Willebrand disease rely on clotting factors to prevent bleeds that damage joints or threaten life.
Immune and neurological conditions
Children born without working immunity need lifelong immunoglobulin. It also treats Guillain-Barré syndrome, Kawasaki disease and immune thrombocytopenia.
Infectious and neglected diseases
Rabies and tetanus immunoglobulins save lives after a bite or wound. Plasma science also underpins snakebite antivenoms, and convalescent plasma has been trialled against Ebola.
Four areas where systems decide outcomes
Plasma and blood
Turning recovered plasma into a supply of medicines for the region.
Learn moreCold chain and logistics
Supply chain networks that keep medicines and blood within specification.
Learn moreCritical care and access
Critical care technology, access to care, and the plasma medicines ICUs depend on.
Learn moreOncology and cancer
Cancer awareness and support, including the immunoglobulin that protects patients in treatment.
Learn moreWhere Africa's plasma is lost
Estimated recovered plasma not used for medicines each year, in litres. Countries with a route to a fractionator lose far less.
Estimates. See method and sources.
Medicine is only as good as the journey it survives
Plasma must stay at −25°C or colder. Vaccines, insulin and biologics need their own temperature bands. A single break in the chain can waste a shipment.
We bring supply chain discipline to health systems: network design, temperature-controlled storage and transport, and the data to prove every unit stayed in specification.
What's moving in plasma
Closer care for the patients who can't wait
From neonatal units to oncology wards, outcomes depend on working equipment, trained people and patients reaching care in time.
We support access to critical care technology and raise awareness of cancer, so patients and families find help sooner.
There is a role for everyone
Building the systems care depends on
We focus where supply chains, technology and awareness decide whether a patient is treated in time.
Plasma and blood
Plasma recovered from donated blood is one of Africa's most wasted health resources. We work with national blood services to collect, freeze, test and store plasma to pharmaceutical standards, and connect it to licensed fractionation so it becomes medicine for regional patients.
- Plasma recovery and freezing within the 6, 24 and 72-hour windows
- Testing and quality systems to fractionation standards
- A service model that supports national blood services rather than replacing them
Cold chain, supply chain networks and logistics
Health systems fail quietly when the supply chain breaks. We apply supply chain expertise to the movement of medicines, blood products and diagnostics across the region.
- Network design for distribution across urban and rural areas
- Temperature-controlled storage and transport with monitoring
- Inventory planning that reduces stock-outs and expiry
Critical care technology and access to patient care
Life-saving equipment only saves lives when it works, is staffed and can be reached. We support access to critical care technology and the pathways that bring patients to it.
- Access to monitoring, neonatal and intensive care equipment
- Maintenance, training and uptime support
- Referral and access pathways for patients
Oncology and cancer: awareness and support
Many cancers in the region are found late. Awareness, early screening and support for patients and families change outcomes.
- Community awareness of early signs and screening
- Support for patients and families through treatment
- Partnerships with oncology care providers and patient groups
From a donor's arm to a patient's bedside
Plasma is the straw-coloured liquid that makes up about 55% of blood. It carries hundreds of proteins. A few of them, purified, become medicines that no laboratory can make any other way.
What is in plasma
Plasma is about 92% water. The rest is mostly protein, and the proteins are what fractionation recovers.
Holds fluid in the bloodstream. Used to treat shock, burns, liver failure and blood loss in surgery.
Include the antibodies (immunoglobulins) that fight infection. Used for immune deficiency, cancer care and as targeted protection against rabies, tetanus and hepatitis B.
A small share of the protein, but vital. They make blood clot and are used for haemophilia, major bleeding and emergency reversal of blood thinners.
Seven to twelve months from donation to dose
Donate
Whole blood or plasma-only (plasmapheresis) donation.
Freeze
Plasma is frozen fast and kept at −25°C or colder.
Test
Every donation is screened for HIV, hepatitis B and C.
Fractionate
Thousands of donations are pooled and separated into proteins.
Make safe
Viral inactivation and filtration steps protect every patient.
Treat
Released, licensed and supplied to hospitals.
A patient with primary immune deficiency can need the plasma of well over a hundred donations a year. That is why every litre Africa discards matters.
Medicines, conditions and the wards that use them
| Medicine | Used for | Where it's used |
|---|---|---|
| Albumin | Shock, severe burns, trauma, liver cirrhosis, cardiac and major surgery | ICU, theatre, emergency, liver and cancer units |
| Immunoglobulin (IVIG/SCIG) | Primary immune deficiency; infections in leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma; after stem cell transplant; Guillain-Barré, Kawasaki disease, ITP | Oncology, haematology, paediatrics, neurology |
| Factor VIII and IX | Haemophilia A and B | Haemophilia centres, emergency |
| Fibrinogen, PCC | Massive bleeding, including in trauma and surgery; urgent reversal of warfarin | Trauma, theatre, ICU, maternity |
| Anti-D immunoglobulin | Prevents haemolytic disease of the fetus and newborn in Rh-negative mothers | Antenatal and maternity care |
| Hepatitis B immunoglobulin | Protects newborns of infected mothers; liver transplant; needle-stick injury | Maternity, transplant, occupational health |
| Rabies and tetanus immunoglobulin | Post-exposure protection after animal bites and contaminated wounds | Emergency and primary care |
| Alpha-1 antitrypsin, C1-inhibitor, antithrombin | Inherited lung disease, hereditary angioedema, clotting disorders | Specialist clinics |
Plasma science on the frontline of outbreaks
Rabies. Africa carries a large share of the world's rabies deaths, most of them children bitten by dogs. Rabies immunoglobulin, given with vaccine after a bite, prevents the disease, but it is often unavailable where it is needed.
Snakebite. Antivenoms are made from purified plasma antibodies, using the same separation science as human plasma medicines. Shortages in sub-Saharan Africa cost lives and limbs each year.
Ebola and new outbreaks. Plasma from recovered patients carries antibodies and has been trialled against Ebola and other emerging infections. Capacity to collect, test and process plasma locally is part of outbreak readiness.
Africa donates the plasma, then imports the medicine
Most African countries import every plasma medicine their patients receive, at global prices and subject to global shortages. Meanwhile, more than a million litres of plasma a year are discarded.
Recovering that plasma, and building the cold chain, quality systems and critical care capacity around it, would bring these medicines closer to the patients who need them.
Why plasma matters, and what Africa loses
Plasma is the straw-coloured liquid that makes up about 55% of blood. Its proteins are made into medicines that cannot be produced any other way.
| Medicine | Treats |
|---|---|
| Immunoglobulins | Immune deficiencies and autoimmune conditions |
| Albumin | Trauma, burns, liver disease and surgery |
| Clotting factors | Haemophilia and bleeding disorders |
| Hyperimmune globulins | Hepatitis B, tetanus and rabies exposure |
Plasma discarded, by country
Method and sources
These figures are estimates built from the latest published sources, and will be revised as new data appears.
Global collection. About 90 million litres of plasma were collected for fractionation in 2024 (Hotchko, IPFA 2025). We grow this at 6% a year to estimate 2026, about 101 million litres, or 3.2 litres a second.
Africa discarded and fractionated. WHO AFRO reported more than 1,000,000 litres of plasma discarded across the region (2022). About 312,000 litres were fractionated in Africa (Moftah, 2024). Africa accounts for roughly 1% of global plasma for fractionation.
By country. Annual whole-blood units × 0.25 L of plasma per unit × 85% not transfused as fresh frozen plasma. Rwanda uses a measured figure (20,500 L recovered in 2021, about 95% discarded). South Africa and Namibia send plasma to the National Bioproducts Institute for fractionation. Unit counts: Uganda ~420,000 (UBTS, last financial year); Kenya ~341,000 (62% of 550,000 need, 2024/25); Ghana 187,280 (2024); Zimbabwe 97,500 (2025 target); Eswatini 18,000+ (2024); Namibia 50,000+ (FY2025); South Africa ~950,000.
Sources: IPFA, Global plasma collection: is there enough? (2025) · Moftah, Plasma fractionation in the African continent (2024) · WHO AFRO, Framework to advance universal access to blood products (2025) · Uganda · Kenya · Ghana · Zimbabwe · Eswatini · Namibia
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Help Africa's plasma heal Africa's patients
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Talk to us about funding →Give blood with your national service
Every whole-blood donation saves lives today, and its plasma can become medicine tomorrow. Contact your national blood service to find a donor clinic.
South African National Blood Service (SANBS)
All provinces except the Western Cape. Supplies plasma to NBI for fractionation.
sanbs.org.zaWestern Cape Blood Service (WCBS)
Donor clinics across the Western Cape.
wcbs.org.zaBlood Transfusion Service of Namibia (NamBTS)
Exports surplus plasma to NBI for fractionation.
bts.com.naEswatini National Blood Transfusion Service
Ministry of Health service; students are its main donors.
gov.szA foundation focused on health
Ustawi Foundation NPC is a South African non-profit company. Ustawi is Swahili for wellbeing, and we pursue it through healthcare.
Southern Africa collects blood every day, yet imports almost all the plasma-derived medicines its hospitals need. Its supply chains, critical care and cancer services face similar gaps. We believe these gaps can be closed through regional partnership, supply chain discipline and patient, well-governed investment.
We support national institutions rather than replace them, and meet international quality standards from the start.
Governance
| Legal name | Ustawi Foundation NPC |
|---|---|
| Registration | 2020/118628/08, non-profit company, Republic of South Africa |
| Trustee | Setota ‘Kea’ Ramoshebi, CSCP |
| Standards | SAHPRA, Good Distribution and Manufacturing Practice, POPIA |
Privacy (POPIA)
We process personal information under the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013, only for the purpose it was given. To access, correct or object to the processing of your information, contact our Information Officer at info@ustawifoundation.org.
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Start a conversation
Partnerships, funding, donations or media: write to us and the right person will respond.
| info@ustawifoundation.org | |
| Phone | +27 74 918 0000 |
| Chat on WhatsApp · +27 74 918 0000 | |
| Office | Plot 21, 1 Honingklip Road (N14), Protea Ridge, Krugersdorp, 1739, South Africa |