Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies has organised a day workshop for Queen mothers on blood donation in Ghana.

Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies are doing this in partnership with the Global Blood Fund, lending their expertise and support to bring key stakeholders together to create awareness on the critical importance of blood donation during the crisis.

The initiative, held at Holiday Inn Hotel last week, was aimed at building community capacity to be able to reverse 80 per cent drop in blood collections in Ghana due to COVID-19.

According to President and Chief Executive Officer of Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies, Antoinette Gawin, “We laud the First Lady and Queen mothers’ efforts to develop the health infrastructure in your communities and gladly share our global experiences to help craft solutions for you. This is part of our commitment to serve in the communities in which we operate.”

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Blood Service, Ghana (NBSG) Dr Justina Ansah, CEO noted that “We are optimistic each of us has nine pints of blood, and it takes only one pint to save a life.”

She added that the campaign will reach far and wide for every healthy Ghanaian to make the decision to donate blood to save a life.

Currently, thousands of maternal women, cancer patients, children with sickle cell disease and others who need life-saving blood transfusion are at risk.

Approximately 80 per cent of blood collections in Ghana are from students in secondary and tertiary schools and donations mobilised by faith-based organisations.

However, due to the necessary response to curb the spread of COVID-19, schools have been closed and large religious gatherings reduced, leading to 80 per cent fewer blood collections recorded by the National Blood Service.

The Queen mothers of Ghana are mobilising to help the initiative, known as the Champions of Change, to create awareness on the critical importance of blood donation amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

The campaign will also include a social media campaign as well as other upcoming events.

The workshop delivered tools and strategies around donor recruitment and retention to support Queen mothers in their community outreach.

The goal is to help build capacity for safe, available and accessible blood for patients all over the country.
Champions of Change partners in Ghana include The Rebecca Foundation; The Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Foundation, Institute for Research, Advocacy and Training (INSRAT), and SMART Global.