The Blood Bank at the Bono Regional Hospital is facing a shortage. The situation has been attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Authorities say the situation is making procedures like deliveries, surgeries, and other emergency cases extremely precarious.
A Medical Laboratory Scientist at the Bono Regional Hospital, Dacosta Kwabena Gyasi, disclosed this in an interview with GBC NEWS as Ghana joined the world to commemorate World Donor Day.
He appealed to the public to donate blood to the facility, to forestall avoidable deaths.
World Blood Donor Day which falls on June 14, seeks to create awareness on the importance of blood donation and the need for safe blood and blood products for transfusion.
A visit to the Bono Regional Hospital which serves as a referral center revealed the shortage of blood at the Blood Bank.
A Medical Laboratory Scientist, Dacosta Kwabena Gyasi, in an interview with GBCNEWS, blamed the problem on Covid-19.
He said they mostly rely on blood donations from Schools, Churches, and other groups but the restrictions brought on by the pandemic have affected voluntary blood donations.
He said the hospital had to resort to what he termed; Family Replacement, where a family member of a patient is asked to donate blood in replacement of what will be supplied.
He said the hospital on average requires at least 49 units of blood per day for the surgical, accident and emergency centers, but sometimes they have to make do with only 13 pints.
Mr. Dacosta Kwabena Gyasi, entreated the public to as a matter of urgency step in to donate blood to the facility to save lives.
He also called on government to exempt the blood banks’ from restrictions on social gatherings to enable them to source blood to save lives.
Story filed by Austin Agyenim Boateng
