Wa, (UW/)-Ghana, Sept. 23, GNA – The Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS), has organised a blood donation exercise in Wa to mark this year’s National Volunteers Day (NVD), commemorated on 21st September annually.
The exercise was in collaboration with the GhanaThink Foundation, Mara Foods, and CamFEd Association to support the Upper West Regional Blood Bank.
Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Wa after the exercise, Mr Jeremiah Afako, the Upper West Regional Manager of the GRCS, said the initiative was in response to a request by the hospital’s blood bank.
“We deemed it necessary that 21st September and the whole of September for that matter being National Volunteers Day we encourage people to come out and volunteer to donate blood to help save someone’s life,” he explained.
A total of 61 pints of blood was mobilised for the hospital, which Mr Afako described as a success considering the outcome of previous blood donation exercises they had organised.
“Today we had almost double of what we recorded in the past so I think the message has gone down well with the people, they are reinventing themselves and rethinking about this whole blood donation thing,” he explained.
Mr Al-hassan Abdul-Nasir, the Laboratory Manager at Upper West Regional Hospital, thanked the GRCS and its partners for mobilising the blood to support the facility.
He said the facility was a major referral centre for the region and beyond and there was a high demand for blood and blood products daily. 
“All accident cases are referred to this hospital from other facilities across the region. Pregnant women with delivery complications are referred to us and all these cases come with their attendant demand for blood transfusion,” Mr Abdul-Nasir explained.
He observed that people usually did not voluntarily visit the health facilities to donate blood hence groups and organisations that mobilise the youth to donate blood should be commended.
Mr Abdul-Nasir indicated that before the intervention by the GRCS and its partners, the Regional Hospital Blood Bank could not boast of two units of any of the blood groups.
“I think that in our communities, largely people are always waiting to be called to come and donate blood when they have sick relatives, but you know with the urgency that people need blood when they are sick there is no time to begin to look for people to come and be screened before they will donate blood,” the Laboratory Manager said.
He, therefore, encouraged the public and institutions to make voluntary blood donation a habit as well to support health facilities.
Madam Maria Johana Yuorpor, the Upper West Regional Chairperson of the GRCS, said the blood donation exercise was a humanitarian gesture to help save people’s lives in the health facilities in times of emergency.
Madam Yuorpor, who is the CEO of Mara Food, encouraged people to voluntarily donate blood since it was a blessing to give off one’s life in service to mankind.
Mr Jonas Bawa, a blood donor, said voluntary blood donation was a good initiative and a fulfilling course any person could do.
