It is an honour and a pleasure to welcome you all at this 20th annual International Symposium on Blood Transfusion in the Netherlands. This year you celebrate its 20th anniversary and I congratulate the Staff of the Blood Bank Noord Nederland and especially Dr. Smit Sibinga for this great achievement. As most of you know, the name of the person of Dr. Smit Sibinga is unbreakably con nected with the annual symposium in Groningen which he has organized each year from the very start, 20 years ago. The reputation of any symposium depends heavily on the quality of the lectures. I think it is not...