Veep urges Ghanaians to donate blood voluntarily
Vice-President Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur last Monday launched a blood donation campaign urging Ghanaians to not wait until calamity befalls their relatives before they rush to the hospital to donate blood.
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“We must not wait until the worst happens before we donate blood to save the lives of our relatives. Let’s all enrol as voluntary donors and donate blood to save lives,” he said at the 15th National Blood Donor Day and the launch of the annual blood donation campaign in Accra.
The Vice-President observed that the threat to life as a result of insufficient stock of blood called for total commitment of all Ghanaians to help stock the country’s blood banks to help save lives during emergencies.
Organised in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Accra and Rotary Club of Accra Ridge, the National Blood Donor Day is set aside to recognise and honour regular voluntary non-remunerate blood donors whose continuous support have kept the blood service running and provided hope for patients needing blood transfusion therapy in the country’s hospitals and clinics.
Statistics from the National Blood Bank indicates that annual blood donations fall below 250,000 units needed. Currently, voluntary blood donation constitutes 30 per cent of the total annual blood donations with family/replacement blood donation serving as a stop gap due to shortfall in the supply from voluntary donations.
The theme of this year’s campaign is “Thank you for saving my life”. It encourages donors all over the world to donate blood voluntarily and regularly.
Award winners
This year’s First National Blood Donor prize went to Mr Akwesi Agyemang-Dufuor who received a double-decker refrigerator and a citation for donating blood 55 times. The runner-ups were Mr Ebenezer Kissiedu and Mr Kojo Badu-Kilson who have donated blood 50 and 51 times respectively. They both received refrigerators and a citation.
At the regional level, Mr Maxwell Daniel Adotei Bulley and Mr Maxwell were tied at 46 donations with Mr Seth Petu Gadah who has donated 45 times placing third.
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The Best Youth donor was Seth Nyarko who has given blood 37 times while the Best Female Donor went to Ms Mary Quargraine who has donated 45 times. They both received DVDs.
Three veteran blood donors—Mr John Degraft-Baiden, Mr Henry Thompson and Mr Robert Addy who donated blood 123, 75 and 73 times respectively were also honoured with certificates.
Severe bleeding during pregnancy, delivery or after childbirth is the single biggest cause of maternal death. Of the 289, 000 women who died in childbirth in 2013 due to complications in pregnancy and childbirth, 27 per cent were due to severe bleeding.
But speaking at the programme, the Minister of Health, Mr Alex Segbefia, said it was worth noting that haemorrhage was no longer the leading cause of maternal deaths in Ghana due to the joint efforts of all stakeholders including voluntary non-remunerate donors.
Mr Segbefia observed that it was sad and disappointing to note that an estimated 26 per cent of maternal deaths were directly linked to a lack of an emergency supply of blood.
“Women who bleed during pregnancy, childbirth and after delivery are at high risk of dying because once bleeding starts, death can occur in less than an hour,” he added.
The acting Director National Blood Service, Dr Lucy Asamoah-Akuoko, made a passionate appeal to the public to donate blood as, among other things, blood transfusion was often an emergency treatment for severe anaemia.