Be honest with your answers when donating blood - Laboratory scientist

Ms. Doris Kusima Baiden, Medical Laboratory Scientist in Charge of the Blood Bank at the International Maritime Hospital (IMaH) in Tema, has urged Ghanaians to be honest when answering questions before they donate blood.

Ms. Baiden explained that potential donors of blood were expected to answer a confidential questionnaire about their medical history before blood donation.

This is to give the health attendant a good idea of your general health and blood condition and foster a better service for donors and recipients.

Ms. Baiden was addressing issues related to blood donation at the weekly "Your Health! Our Collective Responsibility! A Ghana News Agency initiative aimed at promoting health-related communication and providing a platform for health information dissemination to influence personal health choices through improved health literacy

Ms. Baiden, supported by Mr. Robert Tetteh Djimajor, also an IMaH Medical Laboratory Scientist, explained that as a routine before blood donation "we first take personal details like your name, age, date of birth, address, and other contacts. We then further proceed to ask confidential health questions.”

Ms. Baiden emphasized that donors were expected to come clean about medications taken in recent times, current health status, specific sexual activities, and other lifestyles.

"These questions are very confidential and help safeguard your own health and the health of the person receiving the blood. We only want to ensure that one is fully fit physically, mentally, and emotionally before donating blood," she said.

She said that it is very important to be truthful because infections like HIV, Hepatitis B, and C, and Syphilis could be transmitted by transfusion to a patient receiving blood.

She revealed that donating blood did not only benefit the receiver, but also gave donors the chance to be offered a brief medical examination that included checking the temperature and pulse, blood pressure, ensuring minimum weight, and hemoglobin level.

"As a blood bank, it is our responsibility to ensure that all the blood coming in is safe for use and does not contribute to the loss of lives in the hospital. Saving lives is a collective responsibility, and all must endeavor to rightly go through the safe and secured procedures to donate blood," she said.