Korle-Bu Hospital Blood Bank Is Empty

The Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital Blood Bank in Accra has run short of blood.

This is because there are no more regular donors to meet the increasing high demand. The problem has been exacerbated by the fact that some regular donors are now reluctant to do so because of the fear of testing HIV positive. The Assistant Chief Organiser at the Blood Bank, Mr. Eric Missah, disclosed these to the “Ghanaian Times” after a blood donation exercise by three second cycle schools in Accra. The exercise, under the theme “Donate blood, save women in childbirth”, involved Accra Academy, Wesley Grammar and ARS Technical Secondary School, all in Accra.

Mr. Missah explained that excessive bleeding by women during childbirth had also accounted greatly for the high demand for blood. “Woman need more blood when giving birth because they lose excessive blood’’, he said. Furthermore, he said accident victims required more blood during such times.

Second Cycle Schools Targeted

For now, Mr. Missah said that the second-cycle schools had been targeted because they were generous donors. “Most of them are healthy and can give the extra blood that the bank needs”. He explained that before the students were made to donate, they were taken through screening to determine their fitness levels. After the donation, the blood is screened and those found to have any diseases would be contacted for counseling.

Mr. Missah appealed to the public to donate to the blood bank so that it could have the right quantity of stock needed. He said that the blood bank would have to store more blood to be able to help patients. “We don’t want to be overtaken by events during the Christmas period because more accidents do occur during this period,” he said. He therefore, appealed to the public to do away with the notion that every blood contained the HIV virus.