MTN Ghana Fdn. Gives Blood on Valentine’s Day

In the spirit of sharing love on Valentine’s Day, the MTN Ghana Foundation has led a major drive to restock blood banks across the country.

The telecom giant, on Thursday February 14, joined staff and students of the Opoku Ware School and the St. Louis Girls Senior High School respectively in Kumasi to donate blood.

The World Health Organization states that “about 112.5 million blood donations are collected worldwide and more than half of these are collected in high-income countries, home to 19% of the world’s population.”

There are three types of blood donors who include family/replacement, voluntary/unpaid and also paid donors.

General Manager for MTN Ghana, Northern Sector, Nii Adotey-Mingle explained to Ultimate Business that, the donation deepens the network’s commitment towards health development in the country.

“He, who gives blood, gives life. One of the major pillars of the MTN Ghana Foundation is health and because of that we receive some requests from the Ghana Health Service and some hospitals and based on that every February 14 since 2011, we do a blood donation exercise across the country.”

“Today we’re having it at Opoku Ware School and the St. Louis Girls Senior High School and we’re targeting 3,500 people to donate blood. Last year, we targeted 2,700 and got more than 3,000. Basically we set up in places where you have a critical mass and within the time frame allotted, you can get a lot more people to give blood”, Nii mentioned.

The MTN Ghana Northern Sector Boss further expressed delight about the awards the company had received through the blood donations since they started in 2011.

“We have won a lot of awards through this exercise. In 2013 for instance, we were the top corporate entity that donated blood. In 2014, we were the second and in 2015 we were adjudged one of the best corporate donors for blood.”

He also added: “It’s our way of giving back to society and our way of helping in one of the core areas where we have targeted to play a part, which is the health sector.”

“The thing about blood is that, worldwide you’ll find that we have a deficit and especially in Ghana, we have a deficit of about 40 per cent of blood requirements every year. I would urge all Ghanaians to participate in blood donation exercises like this to help increase or shore up the blood banks.”

The blood donation was done in collaboration with the National Blood Bank.

Head of Transfusion Medicine at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Dr Shirley Owusu Ofori, on her part called on other corporate institutions to emulate the example of the MTN Ghana Foundation in restocking the blood banks nationwide.

She underscored the importance of giving blood, explaining that “a country without donors is a country whose health is at risk. The WHO says that if 1 to 2 per cent of a country’s population are committed blood donors; a country’s blood needs are met.”

She was meanwhile grateful for the telco’s support in the last nine years.

The MTN Ghana Foundation blood donation exercise on Valentine’s Day was replicated across every region in Ghana.

By: Ghana/Ultimatefmonline.com/106.9FM/Patricia Ama Bonsu

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