The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) has launched its annual blood donation drive to complement the stock levels of whole blood at the National Blood Bank. The exercise, which is part of the Authority’s corporate social responsibility, seeks to collect 2,000 pints of blood in the next two weeks. The drive is being done in all FDA offices across the country on the theme ‘Give Blood, Share Life’. Dr Mrs Ekua Martey, Deputy Chief Executive Officer in Charge of Technical Operations at the FDA, who launched the drive in Accra, said it was being done with support from the Ghana Standard Authority, Nurses and Midwifery Council, National Identification Authority, CSIR- Food Research Institute, WAEC, Ghana Red Cross, Tullow and Deloitte. She said students of UniMAC – GIJ, National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI) and the University Professional Studies Accra (UPSA) had committed to support the exercise. Dr Martey said whole blood and its derivatives had been rightly listed as essential medicines by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Ghana Health Service (GHS) because they were indispensable and life-saving medical interventions. ‘Every two seconds, someone will need blood to survive, unfortunately, human blood cannot be produced through artificial means, as there is no substitute for it. ‘ Dr Martey described blood as a precious body substance, which could only come from generous healthy living donors, stressing that a nation’s blood supply was a unique life-giving resource. Madam Joyce Oppong Adu, Deputy Chief Blood Donor Recruitment Officer at the National Blood Service, said the blood donors would be screened to know their blood level, weight and blood pressure. She said the GNBS would always ensure that blood taken was safe for use. Madam Adu lauded the Food and Drugs Authority for its consistent commitment to help stock the national blood bank. She urged the public to donate blood to the bank often, stating that donating blood helped in the production of fresh blood cells and reduced the risk of heart and cancer diseases. In 2016, the FDA through its annul blood donation exercise contributed a total of 82 units of blood to the Korle-Bu blood bank, in 2018, it contributed 86 units, in 2019, 504 units were collected, a total of 670 units and 1489 units were collected in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Source: Ghana News Agency