Regular blood donors hardly get sick

Ms Philomena Quayeson, Blood Organiser for Eastern Regional Hospital Blood Bank, has encouraged Ghanaians to donate blood frequently, saying regular blood donors are likely to stay healthy devoid of any terminal sickness.

In every 105 days, she said red blood cells in the human body system expire and come out as waste products through sweat, urine and faeces, indicating that regular blood donation guarantee the successful execution of the process for healthy living.

“When you donate blood regularly at least once every three to four months you do yourself good by lowering your cholesterol level while preventing other cancers and cardiovascular diseases,” she indicated.

Ms Quayeson said this in an interview with the Ghana News Agency at a blood donation exercise organised by the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) in collaboration with the Eastern Regional Hospital Blood Bank at the Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) College of Education in the New Juaben North Municipality.

The blood donation exercise was part of the annual activities of the FDA geared towards restocking the various blood banks across health facilities in the country.

Close to 100 students of the SDA College of Education and other voluntary donors donated close to 100 pints of blood to support the regional blood bank.

Ms Quayeson said blood donation also helped the donor to know their Haemoglobin levels, “because before every donation a check is conducted to ascertain if there is enough blood in the system before a donation is made.”

Most often, she said people become scared when the issue of blood donation was raised, and advised that “It is not scary to donate blood, because before every donation some vital information of the donor is taken to ensure that the person meets the criteria.”

She commended the contribution of Senior High Schools for always being their main source of donors to restock the Eastern Regional Hospital Blood Bank.

However, she appealed to corporate organisations to come to the aid of the hospital by supporting to organise blood donation exercises during their anniversary celebrations and social intervention events.

Ms Gloria Fordjour, a first-year student of Seventh Day Adventist College of Education, a first-time donor sharing her experience with Ghana News Agency said before donating she was scared because a friend had told her blood donation was not good.

But she defied that friend’s advice to experience it for herself.

Upon arrival, she told the organisers that she was a first time donor and was scared about the process. She was then given counselling before willingly and heartily accepting to donate.

Ms Fordjour said blood donation was not scary as she had perceived and encouraged the public to donate blood to help save lives, especially during emergency cases at the hospitals.

Source: GNA