Regularly donating blood makes you healthier, ignore false rumours – Health officers

A laboratory scientist at Raphael Health Center, Stephen Danso has debunked rumors surrounding blood donation which suggest the activity is bad.

He asserts that such beliefs are false and should not be a reason to deny a patient a chance to survive.

The health officer speaking, on TV3 New Day, with host Cookie T, expressed concern about the shortage of blood at the blood center.

He said the issue of COVID-19 and other related issues have been their main hindrance to reaching a high number of blood donors.

They only had to resort to relatives of patients who often donate to save their loved ones.

According to him, the common myth about how you risk losing all your blood after a donation is not true.

He said, blood donation rather gives the donor a very healthy system.

“Those myths about your blood getting finish after a donation are not true. Even if you donate blood it also helps to rejuvenate the system to produce a very good amount of blood. You should averagely be having about 12 pints of blood in the body”, he explained.

The other health officer, Emmanuel Mensah also supports his colleague’s earlier submission and reaffirmed the need to regularly donate blood.

“In our body system, an average adult will have about 4 to 5 liters of blood in his or her system. What we donate or what we give out is less about a sachet of water which is 40 to 50 milligrams and so even when you donate, you still have more to undergo your normal life activities. The issue with our blood cells is that when you are not a donor, between 120 days, your cells in the system expire and becomes a waste product. But when as you continue donating, it rejuvenates your body cells and make you even stronger and healthier. Regular blood donors, you will hardly see them at the hospital for medical attention”, he said.

Ahead of an Onua TV/Radio campaign to stock the blood bank, the head of Onua TV/ Radio, Nana Apeanti together with staff, in collaboration with the Raphael Health Center is undertaking a blood donation exercise.

The campaign is to ensure that, accident victims, anemic patients and all other persons in dire need of blood are granted another chance to live. The exercise is to also ensure that the blood centers are stocked with enough blood to avoid and decrease the number of deaths owing to blood shortage.

The exercise will commence on Friday 27th of August, at the forecourt of the Tema Municipal Assembly. Just as the mantra of Onua TV/Radio says “Ye Dwene Woho” which translates as caring for everyone. The call is to all and sundry to care for everyone as donating blood will save a life.