The donation was geared towards stocking the country’s blood bank to ensure there is sufficient blood to administer to patients during emergency cases.

According to the Marketing and Communications Manager of ASHFOAM, Mr. Nana Yaw Ampem Darko Antwi, they partnered the Accra Dzorwulu Rotary Club and the USDA-Amplifies Ghana as part of its corporate social responsibilities in the month of love [February] at ASHFOAM’s headquarters, North Industrial Area-Accra.

The event saw over 200 people voluntarily donating blood during the exercise to support the blood bank.

The president of the Accra Dzorwulu Rotary Club, Mr. Isaac Lesta said the club partnered ASHFOAM as part of its annual blood donation exercise to sustain the National Blood Bank.

“We all know there are a lot of accidents on our roads and accident victims lose a lot of blood, so it will help in stocking the blood bank” Isaac Lesta stated.

Meanwhile, the Technical Specialist with the USDA-Amplifies Ghana, Comfort Kyerewa Acheampong advocated for more voluntary blood donation by Ghanaians.

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By: citifmonline.com/Ghana

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However, out of the number, only 36.2 percent (3.6 out of 10) of the donations were from Voluntary Unpaid Blood Donor source (VUBDs).

[contextly_sidebar id=”HWmpbOuVPtHYec4LI5rYMeFQXEwE2PbU”]“Of these, VUBDs is only a third were regular donors, whereas regular voluntary blood donation is the only foundation for a sustainable supply of adequate and safe blood and blood products.

“The rest of the 63.8 percent (6.4 out of 10) was from family replacement donors which are well known to be often a hidden-paid system that compromises the adequacy and safety of the national blood supplies of any country that depends mainly on the system,” Mrs Ansah said on Wednesday when Ghana joined the rest of the World to mark this year’s World Blood Donor Day in Accra.

Bemoaning the only six percent out of the 1,000 population in any community that donated blood in 2016, Mrs Ansah said it was woefully inadequate for a middle-income country like Ghana.

“This situation severely compromises safety and adequacy of blood and blood components for both medical and surgical care in our health facilities which will definitely be worsened during disasters requiring transfusions,” she said

She noted that, for the adequate supply of blood during emergencies to be effective in the country, there was the need for a well-organised blood service, and a blood donor population, committed to voluntary unpaid blood donation in the country.

“We can move away from this rather worrying situation if one percent of Ghana’s population commits to donating blood regularly,” Mrs Ansah said.

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Source: GNA

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The BSIS is an open source information system designed to manage donor and blood safety information from the point of donor registration to donation collection, through to laboratory testing, component processing and labelling, storage, and distribution to hospitals and clinics.

The BSIS project was established by the National Blood Service Ghana (NBSG) in collaboration with the United States Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, the Safe Blood for Africa Foundation and Jembi Health Systems PNC, a South African-based not-for-profit organisation.

Inherent in BSIS’s design is the capability to exclude blood donors based on HIV status and track blood donor infectious disease testing results to ensure adequate linkage to care and treatment services.

The BSIS also builds the capacity of health practitioners to manage information related to blood services, improve blood centre laboratory quality and facilitate movement of the NBSG towards accreditation through the African Society of Blood Transfusion.

Since 2010, the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS relief (PEPFAR) has invested approximately $ 1.7 million in strengthening blood safety services in Ghana.

With this support, the NBSG has significantly improved the quality of blood services in Ghana.

From 2010 to 2016 NBSG increased annual blood collections from 140,000 units to more than 160,000 units and decreased the prevalence of HIV seropositive blood donations to a low of 1.2 per cent.

The BSIS centre was inaugurated on Friday at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra jointly by Mrs Tina Mensah, Deputy Minister of Health and Mr Robert P. Jackson, the US Ambassador.

Mrs Mensah said the Ministry believed in synergy of partnership and alliances in the provision of universal health care.

She said the Ministry would continue to create the congenial environment for potential partners to work in concert in achieving the Sustainable Development Goal.

She therefore, hailed the US for its continuous support to Ghana, especially in the area of health.

“The Ministry’s commitment is moving such programmes forward whilst championing the use of technologies in health systems across the country.

“It is therefore, our hope that the National Blood Service would mount effective implementation strategy to support the safe and sustainable implementation of this tool across the entire country.

“I wish to take this opportunity to appeal to the public to support voluntary blood donation exercise to enable the National Blood Service achieve 100 per cent voluntary unpaid donations by the end of 2020,” she added.

Mr Jackson said: “We can achieve an AIDS-free generation. Today, with the launch of BSIS, we are one step closer to that goal.

“Safe blood transfusion helps prevent transmission of HIV and increase the overall health of this nation.

“Safe, reliable blood saves lives- the life of a mother after childbirth, the life of an accident victim, the life of a patient undergoing surgery.

“We partner with Ghana because we both benefit when Ghana succeeds. Healthy Ghanaians can go to work, they can go to school, they can contribute to Ghana‘s growth and stability.

“A stable, thriving Ghana benefits Ghanaians, provides leadership on the continent and contributes to global growth and stability,” he added.

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Source: GNA

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Mr. Mathew Gyan Nkum, the Brong-Ahafo Regional Director of the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), who made the call in an interview  said this was necessary to prevent endangering the lives of patients.

He said it was important to recognize that blood once transfused into the bloodstream of the patient could not be drawn back.

That is why it is required of the facilities to be careful to ensure proper storage.

Mr. Nkum indicated that the FDA was not out there only to see to the safety of food and drugs but mandated by law to standardize blood and blood products to make sure it was safe for transfusion.

He said the Authority was now involved in every stage – blood donation, transporting and separation at the hospitals.

He announced that the FDA had been visiting the facilities to check their fridges, thermometers, back-up power, record books and personnel handling the blood, and to give recommendations.

He warned of sanctions against hospitals that flouted its recommendations and said this could come in the form of a fine or closure of the blood bank.

Mr. Nkum reminded the facilities to get proper record books at the blood banks and to organize regular in-service and external training for their personnel.

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Source: GNA

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The campaign, according to the Club, is to draw national attention to the need for people to donate blood voluntarily.

At an event to launch the programme, the Service Project Director for the Club, Maame Kwaba Stevens said, the initiative would address the shortage of blood in the country and make blood donation a lifestyle among Ghanaians.

“All the time, Korle Bu and 37 military hospitals call on people to donate blood. Donation must be a lifestyle. The country gets about half of the blood it needs and even if the current donors were donating half as much as they do, we won’t still meet the target. But usually people just wait till a loved one needs blood before they donate and that’s why it must be a lifestyle.”

She added that the donation would be done across the country by all the Rotary Clubs in each region to enable them stock the Blood Bank.

“We will start next week, that’s October 6^th to 8^th in Bolgatanga, Tamale, Wa. Then we will move to Sunyani, Kumasi, and then Cape Coast, Takoradi, Ho, Koforidua, and finally, the last one in Accra. With Christmas just around the corner, the best gift to give, is the gift of life and what other way than through blood donation.”

Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Blood Bank, Dr Justina Ansah said there was a need for constant donation since the bank was almost short of blood.

“Blood has a shelf life of 35 days so if you donate blood today within 35 days that blood cannot be used, that’s why people must donate constantly. People need to donate every day because the demand is high. On our part we have made available unit fridges to store blood. We recently distributed fridges so we now have the storage facilities but we don’t have the quantity of blood needed. So we are very happy about this nationwide campaign.”

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By: Felicia Osei/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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