Proceedings of the Eighth Annual Symposium on Blood Transfusion, Groningen 1983, organized by the Red Cross Blood Bank Groningen-Drenthe

With great pleasure I welcome you to the City of Groningen. In more than one way there is cause for celebration. Today marks the third lustrum of the annual international sympo- sium on blood transfusion, organized by the Rode Kruis Bloedbank Groningen-Drenthe. In my opinion it has been a remarkable initiative of the Bloedbank, to start organizing a scientific conference, as it did, in 1976. It meant, among others, that in case of success the initiative would grow to be an annual item on the international congress calen- der. It also meant that a possible third lustrum would coincide with the...

The practice of transfusing blood started at the bedside but over the last few decades blood transfusion has become more and more a laboratory directed discipline. The emphasis on serology and laboratory controlled measures has made blood transfusion safer and more effective, but laboratory and clinical aspects of the discipline have tended to become increasingly separated. As a result of this separation clinical developments in blood transfusion may not have derived full benefit from the knowledge accrued in blood transfusion services. Over the last five years the Red Cross Blood Bank...

J.J. Van Loghem Previously to this symposium, five others have taken place in Groningen. The first one in 1976. This yearly scientific happening has continued. It has greatly stimulated the in- terest in blood transfusion and all allied disciplines in our country. It is clear that these meetings are organized not only by a good scientist, but at the same time by a gifted or- ganizer who, as director of the Red Cross Blood Bank Gro- ningen-Drenthe, has shown that the heavy load of daily routine work can very well be combined with a large amount of experimental and clinical research in blood...