Ministry of Health to Facilitate the Adoption of the Blood Service Bill

General News of Sunday, June 16, 2019

Source: ghananewsagency.org

2019-06-16

The Ministry of Health revealed that it had reviewed and submitted the National Blood Transfusion Bill to the cabinet for final review and approval by Parliament.

Ms. Tina Mensah, Deputy Minister of Health, who said this, said the bill, once pbaded, would improve the regulatory regime governing the provision of blood transfusion services across the country.

The Minister was speaking at an event organized by the National Blood Service to commemorate the celebration of World Blood Donor Day 2019 in Accra.

The Day is reserved for the appreciation of voluntary and unpaid blood donors for their life-saving blood donation.

It also aims to raise public awareness of the need for regular blood donation to ensure that patients with life-threatening diseases have access to safe, quality blood and blood products at a reasonable cost.

Ms. Mensah said this would give blood services the power to coordinate and supervise all blood services according to the law.

She urged the National Blood Service to spare no effort to ensure that blood transfusion in Ghana is safe and based on international best practices.

The theme "Blood donation and universal access to safe blood transfusion" aims to ensure that people living in Ghana have access to sufficient blood and blood products of sufficient quality and without financial risk.

The minister said the ministry was concerned about the blood shortage that continues in most health facilities.

"We must therefore stop relying too much on family replacement donations and adopt voluntary, anonymous and unpaid blood donations to ensure adequate and safe transfusion blood," she said.

It is heartening to note that National Blood is implementing a National Blood Building Program (NBSSP) to expand the infrastructure of blood transfusion services and increase the availability of safe blood for transfusion in health.

She said the ministry recognized the growing collaboration and partnerships between the National Blood Service and various religious organizations.

She congratulated the leaders of the Ahmadiyya Mission and the entire Ahmadiyya community for incorporating voluntary blood donation into their annual convention.

She said that as a sign of support for the NBSSP, all agencies of the ministry were asked to organize blood collection exercises as part of their planned annual activities.

"The ministry will support the extension of the voluntary blood donation campaign to other ministries, departments and agencies," she added.

She urged individuals to commit to becoming volunteer blood donors to help save lives.

The deputy minister also urged the media to frequently stress the importance of voluntary blood donation to Ghanaians and to publish encouraging stories from beneficiaries to motivate others.

Dr. Justina K Ansah, Executive Director of the National Blood Service, said at a conference that blood transfusion was an indispensable intervention in the delivery of health care, which helped save thousands of lives each year in routine and emergency cases.

She stated that a national system of functional blood supply based on regular blood donations from volunteer donors from low-risk populations was therefore a prerequisite for achieving self-sufficiency in blood and in safe blood products in Ghana.

However, the national blood system continued to rely heavily on replacement donations from family members and friends of patients requiring blood transfusions.

Dr. Ansah noted that in 2018, Ghana's blood requirements were estimated at 280,000 units, but that the total blood draw at the national level was just over 169,000 units.

Of this total, about 37% was collected by the three zonal transfusion centers of the National Blood Service in Accra, Kumasi and Tamale.

She added that on the demand side, geographic and financial access to adequate and safe blood and blood products remained essential for many people and communities.

The CEO called the national health insurance scheme to cover the costs of treating blood and blood products.

She said it could make blood and blood products, clbadified essential drugs, available when needed in case of emergency.

The National Blood Service has awarded some religious organizations, institutions and secondary schools citations for the organization of blood donation exercises intended to store the blood bank.