National Blood Bank, JICA launch project
The National Blood Bank (NBS), in collaboration with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and other stakeholders in the health sector, has launched a project to curb blood transfusion infections.
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The project, an initiative of JICA, a Japanese governmental agency, with partnership from Terumo Corporation, a blood management company, is to help reduce blood Transfusion Transmitted Infections (TTIs) such as Malaria and Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) by putting in place measures to ensure that blood meant for transfusion was thoroughly screened in addition to the efficient management of blood.
Speaking at the launch of the project in Accra last Thursday, the Country Representative of JICA Ghana, Mr Hirofumi Hoshi, said the organisation had been promoting participation and collaboration with Japanese private sector organisations to utilise well-developed Japanese technology to solve the challenges in their partner countries.
“Today, you have witnessed the example of this initiative, we are extremely happy that we can facilitate the start of joint work between the National Blood Service Ghana (NBSG) and global renowned medical device company, Terumo,” he said.
Benefits of project
Mr Hoshi noted that the main purpose of the collaboration was to reduce the risk of transfusion transmitted infections and adverse reactions in patients with the Mirasol WB system, a Buffy coat platelet found in the blood and to support the implementation of a hemovigilance system by the NBSG and teaching hospitals in Accra and Kumasi for sustainable blood safety in Ghana.
Mr Hoshi said as part of their global agenda and contribution to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the government of Japan had pledged its support to the achievement of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) both at the G7 Ise-Shima Summit hosted by Japan in 2016 and the 6th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD VI) held in Kenya in 2016.
“At both meetings, the Japanese government and global health leaders also reiterated the importance of strong health systems and better quality of health services. Meanwhile, I would like to emphasise that both stronger health systems and quality service cannot be realised without access to safe blood,” he added.
Japan support
He also said the project would contribute to the reduction of maternal mortality through access to safe blood during critical stages of maternal and neonatal life, adding that with the changing epidemiological trends of the Ghanaian population with non-communicable diseases such as cancers and road accidents on the increase, the need for access to safe blood could not be overemphasised.
The country representative pledged the support of JICA Ghana to continue with the organisation of the annual blood donation exercise and urged all Ghanaians to cultivate the habit of blood donation to save lives.
Ghana’s support
In his remarks, the Minister of Health (MoH), Mr Kwaku Agyemang-Manu lauded the partnership between JICA and Terumo Corporation to assist the NBSG to reduce TTIs, stressing that the collaboration would ensure blood safety and availability, as well as making sure that the risk of transmission of diseases through blood transfusion, which was a critical public health concern, would be significantly reduced through the use of the innovative systems.
“I must say that the MoH duly recognises the efforts of the NBSG in ensuring regular blood supply all-year round despite their limited resources and I wish to assure you that the ministry will support all healthy partnerships like this to ensure that the sector is adequately resourced with the requisite personnel and logistics to ensure efficiency in service delivery,” he said.