The Mobile Telecommunication Network (MTN) Foundation, a foundation committed to improving health, education, and economic empowerment in Ghana, has presented a blood bank building to the Cape Coast Teaching Hospital (CCTH).
The ceremony to present the facility, meant to support effective patient care, coincided with the commemoration of World Blood Donor Day which fell on Monday, as well as MTN’s 25 years of existence in Ghana.
The building has a reception, screening room, blood store room, refrigerators, a laboratory, a waiting area, and a washroom.
Mr Samuel Koranteng, the Chief Corporate Officer of MTN, said the role of blood ineffective health care delivery could not be overemphasized.
He indicated that the blood bank would help manage the hospital’s bloodstock which includes maintaining an inventory for each blood group, ensuring an average age of blood at the time of issue, and monitoring the amount of blood that becomes outdated.
The Chief Corporate Officer said one key area his outfit was very particular with, was the sustainability and maintenance culture that would be adopted by the management of the hospital to ensure that the facility served its intended purpose.
“Five years from now, when we come back to visit, we hope to meet the facility well maintained and possibly in the same state as presented to benefit generations to come” he stated.
Mr Koranteng announced that the Company had rolled out several promotions as part of programmes to appreciate its customers for their commitment to the network and urged all customers to take advantage of them.
Dr. Eric Kofi Ngyedu , Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Hospital, said the donation of the blood bank to the hospital was very timely and would immensely augment and improve blood donation services.
He said the unacceptable rate of maternal deaths, mostly caused by post-partum hemorrhage informed the management’s decision to seek support from the MTN Foundation to help secure lives and stop all preventable deaths.
Expressing gratitude, the CEO thanked MTN for what he described as ‘historic’ and promised that the hospital would take very good care of the facility for future generations to feel MTN’s generosity.
Dr Leticia Lokko, a hematologist at the Hospital, outlined the importance of blood donation and stressed that safe blood was a critical resource for infants with severe anemia, pregnant women who experience postpartum hemorrhage, cases of trauma, surgeries, treatment of malaria, sickle cell disease and a host of others.
She further urged the public to freely walk to the facility and willingly donate blood to help save lives and curtail all preventable deaths.
