Report by Ben LARYEA
The National Blood Service, Ghana has held the 25th National Blood Donor Day celebration and the launch of the 2026 Rotary Sponsored Annual Blood Donation Campaign with the call on Ghanaians to donate blood and save lives.
The annual event is dedicated in honouring selfless individuals who donate blood voluntarily to support blood transfusion therapy and reward donors for their commitments as well as thank unpaid blood donors. The occasion was to further intensify the awareness of the need for regular blood donation to ensure that individuals, communities have access to affordable, safe and timely blood.
Lineup of activities towards this year’s celebration includes, public sensitization, blood donations, media encounter, SHS quiz competition, citations and awards to individuals and institutions committed to blood donations, special blood collection event, dubbed “The Red Saturday” in 5 regions across the country.
Speaking under the theme, “Give blood, give hope, together we save lives, the Deputy Minister of Health, Dr. Grace Ayensu-Danquah said government have taken pragmatic steps to address the challenges that stops people from accessing blood transfusions, adding that her outfit will put in place incentives to support people in need of blood.
According to her, government have designed methods and mechanisms to help reduce costs in blood transfusion and explained that the move forms parts of the effort to enable Ghanaians have easy access to blood for health care delivery as “Government have taken note of the growing concerns about inadequate funding and lack of resources at the various blood service centers across the country and preparations are being to make blood available at all times across the health centres”, she said.
For her part, Dr. Shirley Owusu-Ofori, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Blood Service urged Ghanaians to actively donate blood to save human lives, adding that, the gesture takes a collective effort by all.
She expressed gratitude to the Rotary Club of Accra among others for their continuous support in blood service delivery and urged others to be part of the NBS sensitization programmes to deliver its mandate effectively and efficiently.
