A blood donation exercise organized by telecommunication giant, MTN Ghana has yielded a total of three hundred and eleven pints of blood for the Upper West Regional Hospital.
The exercise, which was in commemoration of Chocolate day, was conducted in the Jirapa and Wa municipalities as part of the company’s drive to help stock all regional hospitals in the country with blood.
It was organized with support from the Ghana AIDS Commission and the Upper West regional Secretariat of the National Service Scheme.
The Upper West Regional Manager of MTN Ghana, Obed Adu-Amankwa speaking on the sidelines of the exercise explained that as part of its cooperate social responsibility, MTN Ghana committed itself to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the Ghanaian citizenry especially customers of their services.
“As a company we share the heartwarming stories of people whose lives are save on daily basis through blood donation.We see this exercise not as an end but as a means to contribute to the health needs of the country more especially our customers,” he said.
The World Health Organization estimates that one to three per cent of the world’s population needs to donate blood to address the shortage of blood globally.
According to the National Blood Service, Ghana has an estimated population-based blood requirement of 270,000 units but only 160,000 units are collected, leaving the country with a deficit of 40%.
The situation is worse in the Upper West Region as almost all health facilities are operating without their minimum daily blood requirements. Available records indicate that the Upper West regional hospital which is the only major referral facility is only able to generate 20 out of its daily minimum requirement of 50 pints.
This situation is posing a major health threat to women experiencing complications during childbirth, newborns and premature babies as well as health workers in the region.
Kankpki Tia, the manager of the Upper West regional blood bank described the exercise dubbed “MTN’s Save a Life Campaign” as not only a relief to the UW regional hospital but also to patients who are compelled on daily basis to resort to family and friends for their blood needs.
This year’s blood donation exercise which is the ninth edition was patronized by over 400 people from all walks of life.
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By: Mahama Latif | citinewsroom.com| Ghana