File photo
The Accra Golden Lions' Club on Friday organised a blood donation exercise in partnership with the Labone Senior High School (SHS) to stock the National Blood Bank.
The exercise which was mostly performed by third year students of the School was part of the steps undertaken by the Club to make a positive impact on society.
Mrs Jennifer Victoria Duodu-Mensah, the President of the Accra Golden Lions Club, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency said February, as a month of love was allotted to conduct the exercise to show love to humanity.
She said the Labone SHS had been a supportive partner and annually collaborate with the Club to organise the exercise.
To enable the students to donate voluntarily and willingly, she said, the Club conducted a sensitisation programme to educate them on the benefits of partaking in the exercise and how to prepare themselves before and after donating blood.
Mrs Duodu-Mensah said as part of the laid down activities on the Club’s 2020 Calendar; a Childhood Cancer Awareness Programme would be undertaken to support children with cancer admitted in hospitals.
The club will support through donations, renovation of their wards, and entertaining activities to put smile on their faces.
The Club will also observe the “World Environment Day” in June to promote tree planting habits among the public; observe the ‘Helen Keller’ ideology, a Heroine of Lions Club International.
She said the club will also encouraged members to be Knights of the blind in the crusade against darkness by going to the aid of the Akropong School for the Blind.
Mr Stephen Danso, a Senior Blood Programme Officer of the Southern Area Blood Centre, National Blood Service, said if one per cent of the population donated blood regularly, the Blood Bank would not record shortage of it.
As the Service often run short of blood, he said, their main dependents had been students especially in the second cycles institutions, to enable them to control conditions of accident victims, women in labour and other emergent situations.
“Absence of blood could lead to needless deaths and nothing else can save a patient who has lost blood and need it to survive,” he said.
Mr Danso said with the increasing number of health facilities that performed major surgery, more blood was required, hence, he appealed to the public to support the lifesaving activity.
Before someone donates, the weight, fitness level, age which should be between 17 and 60 years, haemoglobin level, blood pressure and pulse are checked and one must not donate on an empty stomach, he advised.
Ms Yvonne Amarkie Payway, a 19-year-old student of the School who participated in the exercise told the GNA that the experience which was her first time was comfortable and worthy as it was going to save a life.
“I have never donated before but today I feel like donating because I want to save life. It’s not any difficult task to donate.
“It’s just the needle that is a little painful but it’s a lovely experience and I will donate again whenever I get the opportunity to save more lives,” she said.
