Tamale Teaching hospital needs blood

Tamale, Sept.5, GNA- Mr Peter Jabong, a personal at the Blood Bank of the Tamale Teaching Hospital Blood (TTH), has appealed to the public to cultivate the habit of donating blood to save the lives of sick people. Mr Jabong, a Staff Nurse at TTH said the blood bank does not meet the required target of 200 units of blood needed to save lives, making the work of the hospital difficult.

He was speaking to the Ghana News Agency in an interview in Tamale on Monday when the Health Service Workers Union (HSWU) organised a blood donation exercise in the Metropolis as part of the 46th Anniversary Celebration of the Union.

The week-long celebration is on the theme: 93Social Protection: the Backbone to Quality Life Before and During Retirement." Mr Jabong said current facilities at the blood bank could only preserv= e blood for 35 days hence the need for regular replacement to prevent loss of life. "So far no one has died in this hospital as a result of the unavailability of blood but we need the public to help carry on with this enviable record," he said. Alhaji Ahmed I. Adams, Industrial Relations Officer of the Northern Regional HSWU said it was the Union's conviction that the availability of blood at the blood bank was one of the important mile stone towards ensurin= g a healthy population for national development. "As health workers we want to set the pace for others to emulate and also support the course towards preventing life loss due to unavailability of blood," he said.

On the theme chosen for the Union's Celebration, He said often most health workers go through financial and other forms of difficulties during retirement, hence the need to educate its members on the subject. Alhaji Adams noted that personnel from the Social Security and Nationa= l Trust Fund and other resource persons would give a lecture on strategies fo= r workers to adopt before and after retirement.