The Acting Public Relations Officer, at the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Misbao Mohammed has bemoaned the adverse impact of the ban on public gatherings on the hospital’s blood mobilisation exercises.
Management of the facility says the blood bank relies on a family replacement to stock the bank as they are unable to organise mass exercises for the public to donate blood.
“Currently, what we do is that when you bring a patient which requires blood transfusion even though we will get the blood for you, we will request that the number of times that we will transfuse blood will be replaced by friends and family.”
The Acting Public Relations Officer, says in finding a solution, the hospital is “currently liaising with the Tamale Metropolitan Assembly and Regional Coordinating council to allow some interested youth groups who want to save life to be allowed into the hospital.”
We’ve run out of blood due to COVID-19 – KATH
The Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) has also raised its voice about adversely affected as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
Authorities say they are unable to organize mass donation exercises which have been the main source of blood supply.
Speaking in an interview Ashanti Regional Correspondent, Edward Marfo, the Head of Transfusion Medicine at the hospital, Dr. Shirley Owusu-Ofori said the global pandemic has negatively affected blood supply worldwide.
She says their blood bank used to rely on blood donations from churches, schools and other groups but since there is a ban on public gatherings, such groups are unable to support in the form of mass donations.
