You can save a life!

By Charles Takyi-Boadu & Wendy Sawatzky
ACCRA, GHANA: You may not be a doctor or a firefighter or a policeman. But did you know you still have the power to save a human life? Staff at the National Blood Transfusion Centre, Korle Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), want you to know the power that runs through your veins; your donation of blood is a gift of life. “Blood is not manufactured or found in the market place. It’s an invaluable gift. Do not beg for it or attempt to buy it. Donate for your relations. Give to save an unknown life.” These words hang in the transfusion center (or Blood Bank) at Korle-Bu, speaking volumes of the need for all persons to donate blood -- to do at least this small part toward saving a life. From all indications, however, Ghanaians have failed to pay heed to the continuous call on them to donate. “The voluntary blood donation has not gone down well with the public,” Samuel Nunoo, Assistant Chief Organizer at the Blood Bank, told Social Justice reporters from the Chronicle. The Blood Bank, which has been in operation for more than 40 years, operates from a small building near the hospital’s Haematology Department. The clinic has a waiting area, a ‘bleeding room’ where people donate, a few offices and a laboratory section where the donated blood is tested. An average of 30 people donates blood each day at the clinic -- a total of almost 20,000 donations in 2005, according to Nunoo. Even so, Nunoo says the amount of blood donated does not begin to meet the needs of the nation’s medical establishments. Blood donors fall into two categories: volunteer donors who give blood to fill the general need, and replacement donors who give blood to replace the supply that will be used by a relative or friend who requires it for medical reasons. The national blood service requires replacement donors because the nation does not have enough blood from voluntary donations to supply the requirements of everyone who needs it, Nunoo explained. About 100,000 units of blood would have to be available nationally before replacement donors are no longer required. He estimated that the country currently has less than half that amount in reserve. Although the Blood Bank is crying for more donors, on busy days, the queue to donate can be hours long. The problem isn’t a shortage of staff. Rather, the clinic could use more space for beds to allow more people to donate without waiting. “The size of the room, it can’t contain more than four beds, with the people inside working, they would not be able to move around, so it can’t be more,” he says, adding that about 10 beds would be ideal. Indeed, on the day Social Justice reporters visited the clinic, more than a dozen people waited on benches in the waiting room for their turn to donate. While people who come to the clinic to voluntarily give blood are seen to immediately, most of the people in the queue were donating “replacement” blood for a relative’s medical needs and had to wait. In the past few years, the total number of people donating blood has increased, but at the same time, the number of people giving voluntary donations has decreased, a fact Mr. Nunoo lamented. As a result, the country is getting no closer to achieving the 100,000 units it needs to do away with the “replacement” blood-donor scheme. “We have tried over the years to convince the public to come in voluntarily and donate it so that one day when you need it, it is there for you for free,” he says. For some, it is the fear of learning they have an illness such as HIV that deters them from coming in, Nunoo says. Others worry about their identities being disclosed, while still others have just neglected the call of duty. “They’re scared,” he says. “If you know you have not lived any good life, any good morals, you fear going to donate blood … because if there’s something wrong with you, we’ll tell you. “We take from you information, your name, your phone number, and all that … people are thinking when they come in to donate blood and we find out negative news, they would have it on file,” he added. In reality, the idea behind the taking of information is two-fold. Firstly, it is to have a clinical record for identification of the blood. Secondly, the clinic can then contact people whose blood shows signs of illness to inform them and offer counselling. A donor’s health information remains confidential and is not disclosed to others. In some countries, such as the United States, blood banks boost the amount of blood available to patients by paying donors for their donations. However, Nunoo doesn’t think that system is appropriate for a country like Ghana, where people in desperate need of money might misconstrue their situation in order to be paid for their donation. “If we commercialize blood donation, then we may end up compromising our safety,” he says, adding, “Safety is most important.” Instead of commercialization, “education is the basis of encouraging more people to donate,” Nunoo believes. If more people knew about the benefits of giving blood, more would volunteer. There are a lot of benefits, he emphasized. For one, donors receive a free medical check. One also receives a blood donor card, which entitles one to free blood if needed for a medical reason in the future. “There is also the satisfaction of saving someone’s life,” Nunoo added, encouraging all Ghanaians to do their part to save the lives of those in need: their relatives, their friends or even themselves. GIVING BLOOD: STEP BY STEP The process of donating blood takes about 30 minutes, according to Samuel Nunoo, although your waiting time may extend that a bit. Here is what you can expect if you go to the Blood Bank to donate: 1. When you enter the office, you fill out a form with personal details such as your name, address and whether you are a replacement donor or a voluntary one. 2. Your age, weight and blood pressure are checked. You must be at least 17-years-old, weigh 50 kilograms and have good blood pressure in order to donate. 3. A small blood sample is taken and tested in the Blood Bank’s laboratory to determine if it is suitable for donation. The test takes about 15 minutes. 4. After the results come back, you enter the Bleeding Room. If your blood does not pass the tests due to high blood pressure, hepatitis or for another medical reason, you are told why and given private counselling. 5. If your blood qualifies, you are given a special bag in which the blood will be stored, and after a short wait, you are called to a bed. 6. Once you are comfortable, a nurse connects the blood-collection system to your arm. You lie back, watch television and squeeze a soft ball with your hand while the blood is collected, which takes about 10 to 15 minutes. 7. Once the collection is done, the Blood Bank gives you a cup of cappuccino or Milo and you wait for a few minutes before you leave.