Swedru Government hospital lacks blood refrigerator

Agona Swedru, Jan. 17, GNA - The absence of a standard blood bank refrigerator at Agona Swedru government hospital has made it extremely difficult for the workers of the laboratory to preserve blood for a longer time.

Mr Michael Nkasah, Biomedical Scientist at the hospital, made this known to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) when Members of the Swedru East District of the Seventh Day Adventist Church donated blood to the hospital. He said the laboratory could not preserve the expected blood at the bank due to the absence of the standard refrigerator, making it impossible for the unit to supply adequate blood to patients.

Mr Nkasah said the blood fridge of the hospital got burnt when fire raze= d down the laboratory unit of the hospital about seven and half years ago and had not yet been replaced.

The workers had improvised to enable them to monitor the blood so that it would not go waste, he said.

Mr Nkansah said the cost of the fridge ranged from between 7,000 Ghana and 8,000 Ghana Cedis and that the authorities of the hospital were struggling to purchase one.

He therefore appealed to corporate bodies, financial institutions, Non governmental organizations, Agona East and West Municipal and District Assemblies and other donors to come to the aid of the hospital to procure the blood fridge to enable them to preserve more blood to save lives. Elder Kingsford Eduafo, an Executive member of the SDA Men Fellowship, said the donation of blood by the members of the Church was that when members visited a member on admission at the hospital doctors complained of shortage of blood.

According to him, the doctors said the hospital needed 492 units of blood but had only 82 units, which was not enough to meet the demand of patients who needed blood transfusion.

Elder Eduafo said the doctors told them during the visit that about 30 orphans who were sick needed blood, adding that the orphans had no money to pay for the cost of the blood and the hospital had to provide blood free of charge for them.

He appealed to the churches, youth groups, students, women's groups, Muslim groups and other organizations in the Agona West Municipality to donate blood to the hospital to save lives.