MTN Foundation’s annual blood donation exercise has yielded about 20,000 units since it started in 2011, with the last campaign in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic contributing 6,036 units.
Head of Sustainability and Social Impact-MTN, Rhoderlyn Entsua Mensah, made this known during the company’s annual blood donation exercise dubbed ‘Save a Life’ held at the company’s head office in Accra, and added that her outfit remains committed to improving on health care delivery in the country.
Taking place in all 16 regions simultaneously, the MTN blood donation campaign aims at reducing the high number of maternal mortality cases in Ghana.
Identifying loss of blood as the leading cause of maternal deaths, Rhoderlyn stated that the annual Valentine’s Day blood donation exercise this year is targetted at collecting 4,000 units of blood to stock various blood-banks across the country.
She revealed that voluntary or non-remunerated donation forms below 40 percent of the national blood supply, saying: “We at MTN believe that this exercise we carry out yearly has undoubtedly resulted in lessening maternal mortality in Ghana.
“Our achievement as a foundation and business is that today we are able to collect enough blood to help save lives in these healthcare facilities,” she added while addressing media at the company’s head office in Accra.
She furthermore stated that: “This initiative has also put that volunteerism drive into our staff, who have been donating blood since 2011 and are still here today to donate and ensure precious lives are saved”.
Meanwhile, Chief Executive Officer of the National Blood Service, Shirley Owusu-Ofori, debunked misconceptions that blood received from donors ends up being used for occult and ritual purposes.
“It is not possible for a blood service to collect your units and partner with any dubious or shady establishment or organisation to use your blood for an untoward process – be it for rituals or any other purposes that are practiced out there,” she said.
Furthermore, she said: “With the National Blood Service, and with all our blood establishments in Ghana, we have a vein to vein blood value system. We are able to track every unit from the vein of the donor to veins of the recipient. We are also able to track every unit you have given. We are bound by law to be transparent in our processes, and I think this helps to rest this case.”
Serena Quarshie, a blood donor, told the B&FT that: “Two years ago my father-in-law had a brain tumour and he needed to be operated on. They needed two pints of blood and we searched the whole of Accra but couldn’t find any. Eventually, when we found the blood he had passed on; so I am here donating blood in his honour. We couldn’t save his life, but I hope this saves someone’s life”.
MTN organises ‘save a life campaign’ in the Southwest Business District
The MTN Foundation organised similar blood donation exercises in the Western, Central and Western-North Regions.
Prince Owusu Nyarko, Regional Senior Manager-Southwest Business at MTN, explained to media that: “We are committed to improving healthcare delivery in Ghana; our donation centres for this year are Ghana Secondary Technical School (GSTS) and Takoradi Technical Institute (TTI) in Takoradi; Wiawso SHS in Sefwi Wiawso; Sankor SHS in Dixcove; Asuasi Technical Institute and Biriwa NVTI in Cape Coast.
“We believe this exercise has resulted in a reduction of maternal mortality since loss of blood is one of the leading causes of maternal deaths; the availability of safe blood is critical in health administration and we are very glad to have another opportunity to show our customers and all Ghanaians that we are a caring company,” he added.
Simon Boateng, Blood Donor Organiser at the Effia Nkwanta Blood Bank, mentioned that his outfit is targetting to receive 2,000 pints of blood this year.
“The blood expires 35 days after it has been stored at the bank. And individuals or groups of people who donate blood sometimes do not understand why they do not get blood when a relative is in dire need of it at the hospital. One person can sometimes take between 18 to 20 pints of blood to survive. So, you see we are always in need – and almost all hospitals in the region also depend on the Effia Nkwanta blood-bank,” he said.
