Hundreds of donors respond to MTN Ghana Foundation’s “save a life” blood donation drive

MTN Ghana Foundation, on Friday, February 13, embarked on its “Save a Life” Blood Donation Drive, as a booster to the National Blood Service and regional hospital blood banks across the country.

This year’s blood donation drive, partnered by Cal Bank, targets to collect 7,000 pints of blood at 44 designated centres spread across 16 regions of the country.

In the Northern Region, three second cycle institutions were the designated point for the blood donation activities.

Tamale Senior High School, the Islamic School High School also in Tamale and the Bimbilla Senior High in the Nanumba North District drew huge patronage from both students and staff.

Speaking on the sidelines of the “save a life” blood donation drive in Tamale, the Northern Territory Sales Controller at MTN Ghana, Richard Asamane underscored the impact of the initiative saying “Ghana still faces a significant blood shortage and every pint donated becomes a lifeline for someone’s parent, child, friend, or colleague.”

He said February being the Month of love, the largest Mobile Telephony provider was once again showing leadership by sustaining its legacy as one of the largest mobiliser for the blood banks in Ghana’s health delivery system.

“This campaign is not just another event. It is an act of love, a demonstration of leadership and a reaffirmation of our MTN value to lead with care,”M. Asamane stated

Mr. Asamane called on all eligible donors, corporate institutions and the public to continually donate blood saying; “Blood is an essential resource, and the need for it never stops.”

Earlier, Chief Blood Organizer at the Tamale blood bank located at the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Ziblim Adam, commended the organizers, MTN Ghana Foundation and Cal Bank for their commitment to sustaining the blood donation annually.

According to him blood is a lifeline, however the Central Blood bank is unable to collect enough with just a little over 30 Percent of what is required often achieved. MTN’s support, he stated, has been timely as it coincided with the approaching Ramadan or fasting period, where a lot of blood may be needed in the health facilities.

Mr. Ziblim Adam explained such critical collection of blood will cushion them against high demands from competing interests such as pregnant women, road crash victims and even children who are in need of blood supply, during the period.

“We encourage others to emulate this gesture from MTN and others so that we can get to a state where we will not have call on families for replacement.. Sometimes the relatives do not qualify and though activities like this, it sustains the blood bank and help save human lives,” Adams added.

For his part, Senior Nursing Officer (SNO) at the Tamale West Hospital, Alhassan Ismail explained to newsmen that, the team of health workers and blood organizers took the donors through routine checks for their weight, their blood pressure before allowing them to participate in the blood donation activity.

Some of the blood donors expressed their delight in undertaking the activity saying it was a call to duty and also service to saving humankind. The participants were refreshed and given souvenir packages from the organizers.

Since 2011, the MTN “Save a Life” campaign has grown to becoming one of the country’s most impactful voluntary blood donation activities. The initiative was launched in response to appeals from the National Blood Service to address critically low blood supplies. To date, the “save a life” campaign has mobilized over 35,000 pints of blood, helping save thousands of lives.

Story By: Nelson Adanuti Nyadror /www.diamondfmonline.com /Ghana.