Accra, June 8, GNA - Mr Saladin Mahama, the National Disaster Coordinator of the Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS), has urged the National Blood Service of Ghana (NBSG), to motivate the public in diverse ways to woo them for voluntary blood donation.
Mr Mahama blamed the low turn-out in national blood donation exercises on the low motivation given to the public to encourage them to donate blood freely to help combat high mortality emanating from inadequate blood supply.
The GRCS National Coordinator was presenting a lecture on the theme: “Blood Donation in Emergencies”, at a public lecture held in Accra on Wednesday, as part of the activities outlined by the NBSG to mark the 2017 World Blood Donor Day. He called for a robust motivational strategic plan that would ensure that blood donors got special treatment when they go to hospital, especially when they were in need of blood for themselves or their patients.
Mr Mahama also called on the NBSG to intensify advocacy programmes on the benefit of blood donation as he believed that the Ghanaian populace had no sufficient information about the benefits of blood donation “especially to their health.”
“Donating blood does not kill, it rather saves you from complications like heart attack, strokes, high blood pressure just to mention a few.”
He expressed regret that the GRCS had groups in some regions and districts that mobilised people to donate blood voluntarily to hospitals, but the NBSG had failed to give the group members recognition in the form of certification.
Mr Mahama bemoaned that, the development de-motivated the group and therefore called on the NBSG to “at least give them the necessary recognition.”
He implored the media to rally the advocacy programmes championed by the NBSG, so as to increase awareness and propel the vision of the organisation to accrue more blood to save the lives of people.
Dr Justina K Ansah, the Director of the NBSG, said the organisation was advocating the passage of a National Blood Service Bill which was lying in cabinet.
The Bill, when passed, Dr Ansah said, would give the NBSG an appropriate legal backing to enforce blood donation policies in pursuit of its mandate.
She assured that the NBSG would ensure the drafting and implementation of a Disaster Management Plan for blood donation which would be incorporated in both the National Health Disaster Plan and the general National Disaster Plan.
This, she explained, would provide guidelines for dealing with health issues in times of disasters, particularly when there was the need of blood for victims involved.
“If this is not done, we will have problems when there are disasters. Even in non-disaster state, we are not self-sufficient in the availability of blood,” she added.
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