This book is composed of four major sections: The perception of risk, where authorities from the field of environmental psychology and risk analysis describe the backgrounds and mechanisms of cognitive behavior and the effects of emotional and publicity factors on perception and acceptance of risk. The management of infection-defined risk, the core of public and political anxiety. Here the book illustrates how safe the current blood supply has become over the past decade in at least the majority of industrialized countries in the world. The management of immune-defined risks has been the Cinderella of blood transfusion and transfusion medicine up till now. Risk management in clinical practice: optimal versus maximal is the section where the real virtue of reality comes to life through valuable contributors by authors from the field of clinical blood banking, heavily involved consumers organizations (WFH), the Cochrane Institute of Medical Sciences and National Health Services Center for reviews and dissemination, and international policy makers and regulative bodies like the Council of Europe and the European Commission. When the reader is first confronted with a poem illustrating the reality of virtue, written by one of the editors noted for his talent in anecdotal medical poetry, the scene is set for the virtue of reality in the management of risk in blood transfusion.

Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, with great pleasure I like to welcome you in the cityofGroningen and hope that you will have an enriching and enlighten ing discussion on the conference theme on risk management in blood trans fusion. The organisation of this symposium aims at scientific networking by discussing in an international forum the most important themes of current interest in relation to the state of the art in transfusion medicine. Dr. Cees Smit Sibinga took the initiative in 1976 to start organising the blood bank symposia as they were named in the beginning. Without doubt these symposia have contributed considerably to the development of transfusion medicine. To illustrate the fact that these symposia came to my attention I recollect that I have attended the symposium in 1978, chaired by Dr. Leo Vroman, in my capacity in those days of alderman deputy mayor of the city. So, it has been a long time since. After having been away from Groningen for 18 years I have been inaugurated last week as a mayor and it is a plcasure to be again in your midst. The scries of annual symposia on blood transfusion have contributed to mark the city of Groningen on the map of the international scientific world. A great number of prestigious institutes all over the world involved in the development of transfusion medicine have linked to Groningen and we are proud of that."