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5th December, 2011
LET’S GIVE IT A TRY!
Blood is life. It has no substitute whatsoever. Humans can’t live without blood.
Without blood, the body’s organs cannot get the oxygen and nutrients they need to survive.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that, a country’s basic requirements for safe blood, could be met if one per cent of the population donated blood.
Approximately every minute of the day, someone in Ghana needs blood.
The annual blood requirement for the country is 150,000 units. However, less than 50 per cent of this amount is collected. This means that regular voluntary donors are the safest and the foundation for sustainable national blood supply.
In order to stock the country’s blood banks to meet the increasing number of patients who require blood to survive, there is the need to encourage voluntary blood donations.
This means that, better incentives should be introduced by our health authorities to motivate more people to donate blood willingly, to help address the critical cases such as child mortality, maternal health, HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases which our health facilities face.
The present state in which all manner of blood contractors charge exorbitantly before donating to save lives, is not a healthy sign for the nation.
It would not be out of place if the government can institute special awards as has been done for teachers, farmers and fishermen, to attract more voluntary donors.
No wonder, the winners of this year’s Blood Donors award in the Volta Region protested vehemently against the items presented to them, describing them as an insult and discouraging.
According to them the ceiling fans and pressing irons presented as awards to regional best blood donors amounted to an insult.
We appeal to the Ghana Health Service to take a second look at the awards for blood donors, and make them more attractive. This, we believe, would ginger more people to give their fullest support to the blood donation programme, which is launched every year.
If voluntary donors are made aware that there are attractive incentives for them, those who have made themselves blood contractors and charging patients exorbitantly would stop their illegal deals.
Let’s give this suggestion a try!
Without blood, the body’s organs cannot get the oxygen and nutrients they need to survive.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that, a country’s basic requirements for safe blood, could be met if one per cent of the population donated blood.
Approximately every minute of the day, someone in Ghana needs blood.
The annual blood requirement for the country is 150,000 units. However, less than 50 per cent of this amount is collected. This means that regular voluntary donors are the safest and the foundation for sustainable national blood supply.
In order to stock the country’s blood banks to meet the increasing number of patients who require blood to survive, there is the need to encourage voluntary blood donations.
This means that, better incentives should be introduced by our health authorities to motivate more people to donate blood willingly, to help address the critical cases such as child mortality, maternal health, HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases which our health facilities face.
The present state in which all manner of blood contractors charge exorbitantly before donating to save lives, is not a healthy sign for the nation.
It would not be out of place if the government can institute special awards as has been done for teachers, farmers and fishermen, to attract more voluntary donors.
No wonder, the winners of this year’s Blood Donors award in the Volta Region protested vehemently against the items presented to them, describing them as an insult and discouraging.
According to them the ceiling fans and pressing irons presented as awards to regional best blood donors amounted to an insult.
We appeal to the Ghana Health Service to take a second look at the awards for blood donors, and make them more attractive. This, we believe, would ginger more people to give their fullest support to the blood donation programme, which is launched every year.
If voluntary donors are made aware that there are attractive incentives for them, those who have made themselves blood contractors and charging patients exorbitantly would stop their illegal deals.
Let’s give this suggestion a try!
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