800 Units of blood to be collected on donor’s day
The National Blood Service Ghana (NBSG) is set to collect 800 units of blood on World Blood Donor Day this year.
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The target will be realised during activities to commemorate the event at the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park in Accra on June 13.
The World Blood Donor Day is celebrated on June 14 every year and the NBSG intends to attract many volunteers to the event to donate blood to save lives.
According to the Head of the Southern Area Blood Centre, Dr Paul Mensah, the NBSG gave out between 200 and 250 units of blood to various hospitals in Accra on a daily basis.
Launch
Speaking at the launch of the day, where Miss Ghana 2014, Ms Nadia Ntanu, was also outdoored as the brand ambassador for voluntary blood donation, Dr Mensah indicated that blood donation was an important exercise, since blood was constantly on high demand to save lives.
“Every year, we need about 260,000 units of blood for a country such as Ghana where our population is about 26 million,” he stated.
According to him, the nation was yet to achieve the target, saying that last year, only 50 per cent of the target was met, hence the need for people to be committed to voluntary blood donation.
He said the World Health Organisation had estimated that about 290,000 people died globally because they did not have access to blood, with a large proportion of that number coming from sub-Saharan Africa.
Emergency cases
In Ghana, Dr Mensah said, more than 60 per cent of all blood collected was used for surgical cases, particularly by women during childbirth.
“Such circumstances are not the appropriate time to be calling relations and friends to supply blood. The time wasted in these situations will definitely result in lives being lost,” he indicated.
He said the country had almost 60 per cent of its blood supply from people who showed up only when a relative needed blood at the hospital.
Brand Ambassador
Ms Ntanu, said she would engage in public education on blood donation to promote a healthy lifestyle.
She said she would also seek corporate sponsorship to financially support the campaign.
According to her, “the greatest benefit of blood donation is knowing that you have saved someone’s life”.