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Help restock depleting blood banks – Fist Lady
The First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo, yesterday appealed to the public to help restock the depleting blood banks and save lives, as the country joined the rest of the world to mark World Blood Donor Day.
She said the need to donate blood to the country’s blood banks had become more critical than ever since many of the locations that used to host blood drives, had closed their doors in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Every day in Ghana, hundreds of blood donations make the difference between life and death. But with the COVID-19 outbreak…It is now even more difficult to maintain sufficient blood supply for people in critical conditions”, she said.
Mrs Akufo-Addo, who is also the executive director of the Rebecca Foundation, made the appeal in a statement she issued in Accra yesterday in commemoration of World Blood Donor Day.
The World Health Assembly in 2005 designated June 14 each year to thank blood donors and encourage more people to give blood freely.
This year’s theme is ”Safe blood saves lives” with the tagline ”Give blood and make the world a healthier place”.
The theme was to call to action governments, national health authorities and national blood transfusion services to provide adequate resources and put in place systems and infrastructures to increase the collection of blood from voluntary, non-remunerated blood donors.
According to Mrs Akufo-Addo, saving lives through blood donation required concerted efforts thus appealed to all healthy Ghanaians to lend a hand in the worthy course.
“It is in these times of crisis, that we must come together to save lives. So today I am supporting the call for all healthy Ghanaian citizens, to be Champions of Change, Please give blood and save lives”, she said.
Her appeal comes weeks after the National Blood Service (NBS) said it was in dire need of blood to save the lives of patients on emergency care because members of the public were hesitant to donate blood due to fear of contracting COVID-19.
The Chief Executive Officer of the NBS, Dr Justina Kordai Ansah, in a new report, said the blood banks across the country had had their stocks exhausted because of the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
“The COVID-19 pandemic has had profound effects on us in terms of maintaining blood supplies. More than 50 per cent of our blood donors are from the educational institutions which have been closed down because of COVID-19.
“Religious organisations and corporate bodies who are also principal donors are currently not available because of the restrictions on movement and this has resulted in acute shortage on containment of blood and blood components in the country,” she said.
BY TIMES REPORTER
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UNODC partners GFA Foundation on Prison advocacy and mentorship programme
The GFA Foundation and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) have agreed to work together to advocate for anti-discrimination and the elimination of stigmatization for prisoners and prisons.
This partnership was agreed, in principle, during a meeting at the Home of Football (GFA Head Office) between the Director of the GFA Foundation and the UNODC Team led by Mr. Christoph Capelle, an Associate Expert in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice and the Coordinator of the prison and penal reform project in Ghana.
Welcoming the Team to the Home of Football, the Director of the GFA Foundation, Mr. Malcolm Frazier Appeadu briefed the team about the GFA Foundation – Ghana Prisons Project which has covered 6 prisons across the country already.
He indicated that the Foundation is liaising with the Ghana Prisons Service to commence the second and third pillars of the project, which are the coaches and referees training programs as well as the advocacy and mentorship initiatives.
He said that the GFA Foundation will welcome partners for the execution of the second phase of the project which will include Ankaful Maximum Security Prison, Kumasi Central Prison, Sekondi Central Prison and three other prison facilities.
In his response, Mr. Christoph Capelle commended the GFA for the GFA Foundation – Ghana Prisons Project which seeks to use the power of football to promote the wellbeing, reformation, rehabilitation and reintegration of inmates of Ghana’s prisons into society.
Mr. Capelle said that UNODC is looking forward to a collaboration with the GFA Foundation on possible programs for both the medium and long term to support football and sports jobs and skills development in Ghana’s prisons.
He extended an invitation to the GFA Foundation to be part of an assessment of overall prison rehabilitation programmes including the use of sports by their international consultant at the Ankaful Maximum Security Prison.
There will be a football match and donation of footballs, sports items and equipment to the prison facility.
Present at the meeting were Mr. Kwame Koramoah, an officer at the GFA Foundation and Integrity Office, Helena Adobea Ofori, Associate Programme Officer, UNODC and Caleb Elorm Agodzo, Administrative Officer, UNODC.
It will be recalled that in 2020, The UNODC and FIFA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to tackle corruption and crime in and through sports and pledged to consider ways in which football can be used as a vehicle to strengthen youth resilience to crime and substance use through the provision of life skills training.
The MOU was renewed last year by FIFA President Gianni Infantino and UNODC Executive Director Ghada Waly in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.
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Gomoa West: NPP, NDC supporters clash over commissioning of DRIP equipment
Supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) on Monday morning clashed over the commissioning of machinery for the District Road Infrastructure Project in the Gomoa West District of the Central Region.
According to Citi News sources, the conflict began when NDC supporters questioned the decision to display images of Bismark Basie Nkum, the NPP’s Gomoa West parliamentary candidate on the DRIP machinery.
This disagreement quickly escalated, almost leading to a physical altercation between the two groups.
Baisie Nkum, who doubles as the District Chief Executive (DCE) for Gomoa West, further claimed that the Member of Parliament for the area, Richard Gyan Mensah, brandished a pistol and issued threats against the NPP’s local leadership.
A viral video circulating on social media captured the DCE accusing MP Richard Gyan Mensah of pulling out a gun and threatening NPP supporters during the heated incident.
Source: Citinewsroom.com
