Shortage of blood bags affects MTN donation exercise

Shortage of blood bags prevented some enthusiastic blood donors to donate blood during a blood donation exercise embarked upon by the MTN-Ghana at Takoradi.

The people, mostly young men left the scene disappointed and appealed to the authorities in charge of the blood bags to increase the supply to enable more people support blood banks.

As at 1445 hrs on Friday, 111 people had donated some blood at the centre mounted at the central market circle but the shortage compelled the nurses to end their effort.

One of the donors, Mr Daniel Ayensu, 23, an Engineering student of Takoradi Polytechnic, said he had passion to donate blood each time there was such an exercise because somebody had donated blood to save the life of his father who then was in a critical condition.

He said ‘since that time I have donated blood six times and I have the urge to donate more to save the life of others.”

Mr Kennedy Ofosuhene, Cooperate Service Advisor for Southern Ghana of the MTN-Ghana, expressed unhappiness at the turn of events and appealed to the administrators of the blood banks to increase the supply in future exercises.

He said so far 748 people in Sekondi-Takoradi and Cape Coast voluntarily donated blood which would be supplied to the banks of the Effia Nkwanta and Cape Coast Central hospital popularly known as Interberton.

Mrs Cynthia Lumor, Executive Director of the MTN-Ghana Foundation, in a speech read on her behalf, said to donate blood to save lives was the lovable gift to share hence the MTN’s declaration of the exercise to herald in Valentine’s Day dubbed “Save a life” campaign.

She said in the five years that the exercise begun, more than 2,000 pints of blood had been collected to supplement the banks of health facilities adding that 1,200 pints is being targeted during this year’s exercise.

Mrs Lumor prayed that more people support the exercise to enable Ghana achieve the World Health Organization goal of obtaining 100 percent voluntary and unpaid blood donation by 2020.