Ghana marked its 24th National Blood Donor Day Tuesday with a call on the citizens to commit to voluntary unpaid blood donation in order to help the country achieve the 100 per cent voluntary blood donation status as required by the World Health Organisation (W.H.O).
According to the Minister of Health, Dr Bernard Okoe-Boye, despite various interventions made by Ministry of health (MoH) and the National Blood Service (NBS), only 30-40 per cent of blood donation came from voluntary unpaid blood donors last year, with the remaining 60-70 per cent coming from family replacement donors.
This, he said, made the country stood at a risk of failing to achieve the 100 per cent voluntary blood donation status, hence, the need to encourage the citizenry to donate blood voluntarily.
Dr Okoe-Boye mentioned this in a speech read on his behalf by Chief Pharmacist of the MoH, Dr (Mrs) Joycely Naa Korkoi Azeez, at the 24th National Blood Donation celebration and the launch of the 2025 Blood Programme held at the forecourt of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly in Accra on Monday.