Ghanaians have been called to develop the culture of voluntary blood donation to guarantee timely access to safe blood and blood products and help save lives. The Minister for Health, Mr Kwaku Agyeman-Manu made this call at an event to mark World Blood Donor Day in Accra under the theme: ‘Give blood and keep the world beating’.

The Minister, in a statement delivered on his behalf said a year after the World Health Organization targeted deadline of 2020 for all countries to obtain 100% of their blood supplies from only voluntary unpaid donors, Ghana is still struggling to achieve 50% of the target despite several efforts being made. He used the occasion to appreciate the good work of voluntary donors who receive no remuneration but are always ready and available to donate blood to help save other lives most of whom they never meet.

Mr Agyeman-Manu disclosed that the Ministry had been able to secure the needed legal backing for the Agency status of the National Blood Service which had subsequently resulted in the passing of the National Blood Service Bill by the Parliament of Ghana. 

The Chief Executive Officer of the National Blood Service, Dr Justina Kordai Ansah recounted some of the challenges the COVID-19 pandemic brought to the collection and processing of blood for transfusion, deepening the gap between blood collection and the estimated national blood requirement. She said voluntary blood donation dropped from 33% of the total blood donation in 2019 to 17% by the end of 2020. To mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Blood Service activated its business continuity and emergency plans to maintain enough stocks of blood and blood products for emergency transfusions and also to minimize risk of community spread of the virus through blood donations.

Dr Justina Kordai Ansah further acknowledged the opportunities the COVID-19 pandemic had presented and recognized the need to leverage on technology to safely deliver their mandate. In this regard, the Service partnered Kwaaba Foundation and the Ghana Education Service to develop School Blood Donation Tracker app which is used to track blood donations in educational institutions.

The Country Representative for the World Health Organization, Dr Francis Kasolo highlighted some efforts the organization is making to improve access to quality blood supplies across the Africa Region. “We have partnered with the Coalition of Blood for Africa (CoBA), launched in November 2020, to drive this agenda, including engaging the Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD) and the private sector”. 
In the area of research, Dr Kasolo said the partnership between Africa and the BloodSafe Program funded by the United States of America National Institutes of Health supports research to enhance availability of safe blood in African countries. “Through this partnership, research projects in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi are underway in collaboration with universities in the United States” he added.
Worth mentioning is WHO’s partnership with Facebook, where a Regional Blood Donations feature has been set up to connect people with nearby blood banks. The tool which is now live in 12 countries has over 3.8 million Facebook users signed-up to be notified of blood donation opportunities. 
Dr Kasolo urged the Government of Ghana and the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with blood donor associations and nongovernmental organizations, to put in place the systems and infrastructure needed to increase the collection of blood from voluntary donors. This he said, is critical as adequate supplies of safe blood can only be assured through regular, voluntary, unpaid donations.
Five institutions were including religious bodies and the media were awarded for their outstanding roles in promoting, mobilizing, and publishing educational materials on voluntary blood donation campaigns in Ghana.