An Indian-origin South African has become the first person from the African continent to head a global organisation of medicine professionals working for the safety of blood transfusion worldwide.<br/><br/> Ravi Reddy, currently the Chief Operations Officer of the South African National Blood Service (SANBS) will head the International Society for Blood Transfusion headquartered in Amsterdam. <br/><br/>Although Reddy has been credited with transforming the safety of blood donation and transfer in South Africa with its very high incidence of HIV/AIDS, he has insisted that this is a team effort by the staff of SANBS.