Ghana will tomorrow, June 14, 2023, join the rest of the global community to commemorate this year’s World Blood Donor Day.
The Day, celebrated every year, was instituted by the World Health Assembly in 2005, provides a special opportunity to celebrate, thank voluntary blood donors around the world for their gift of blood and encourage more people to become new donors.
The theme for the 2023 celebration, “Give blood, give plasma, share life, share often”, focuses on patients requiring life-long transfusion support and underlines the role every person can play by giving the valuable gift of blood or plasma.
It also highlights the importance of giving blood or plasma regularly to create a safe and sustainable supply of blood and blood products that can always be available, all over the world, so that patients in need can receive timely treatment.
In many countries, including Ghana, blood services face the challenge of making sufficient blood available, while also ensuring its quality and safety.
However, the lack of access to safe blood and blood products – especially in low- and middle-income countries, impacts all patients, including those requiring regular transfusions.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) one of the strategies to help in this regard is to assist low- and middle-income countries in improving the availability and quality of human plasma, including optimising the utilisation of the plasma recovered from whole blood donations, and increasing patient’s access to the life-saving plasma protein therapies.
The Day is to encourage people in good health to donate blood regularly, as often as is safe and possible, to transform the quality of life for transfusion-dependent patients and help to build a secure blood supply in all countries.
It is in the light of this that the National Blood Service, Ghana, over the years has embarked on activities to show appreciation to donors to reward their efforts.
Some of the activities are marked through the issuance of press releases, social media campaigns, newspaper publications, public education, distribution of branded souvenirs, and commemorative events, among others.
The National Blood Service not too long ago in collaboration with Global Blood Fund and DIAGAST, launched a project to promote blood donation among non-blood donors.
The project, dubbed, “Know Your Type” aims to address the pressing need for an increased supply of safe blood and to ensure that individuals are well-informed about their blood type and the significance it holds in emergencies.
Dr Shirley Owusu-Ofori, the Chief Executive Officer of NBS, speaking at the launch, said the need for blood was critical and urged the public to constantly donate blood to meet the country’s demand.
Maame Kwaaba Stephens, Blood Brand Ambassador, in observation of the sixth edition of the “2023 March Blood Donation Awareness Walk”, called for collaboration to enhance voluntary blood donation campaigns to stock the National Blood Bank to save emergencies.
Maame Stephens, also the Director of Kaysens Group and Founder of Kwaaba Foundation, said voluntary donation was important to help the country do away completely with the family replacement system of blood donation during emergencies.
Through the “Unsung Heroes” initiative, she expressed appreciation to all voluntary blood donors across the country for their gift of blood to save lives.
She urged Ghanaians to visit any hospital near them to donate blood voluntarily to save lives.
