Telecommunication company, MTN, has handed over a 300,000 Cedi blood bank facility to the management of the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Unit at the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, with a call on Ghanaians to support the work of the National Blood Service by donating blood.
The handing-over ceremony coincided with the World Blood Donors day celebration.
The Chief Corporate Services Executive of MTN Ghana, Samuel Koranteng, said, “the provision of the facility is a unique opportunity to leave a lasting legacy for our blood donation exercises over the years. The construction of this facility, therefore, serves as a good symbolism of our contribution to the collection and storage of blood in Ghana”.
“We are even more excited because we are making a significant contribution to the health needs of the people of this country”, he emphasized.
Samuel Koranteng maintained that the significance of blood in healthcare delivery, especially in emergency cases and in cases of obstetric hemorrhage, cannot be overemphasized.
“… Because of the need, the MTN Foundation instituted an annual blood donation exercise which has over the years yielded 20,036 pints of blood”.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital, Dr Eric Kofi Ngyedu, disclosed that the hospital recorded twenty-six maternal deaths in 2020.
“Though a reduction from the previous year’s figure of twenty-eight, the situation is still extremely unacceptable”.
Dr. Ngyedu thanked MTN for the kind gesture “to support the hospital to improve maternal health outcomes”.