The Ghana National Petroleum Corporation(GNPC) Foundation has ended the three days blood donation exercise which was aimed to support the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital Blood Bank.
The three days program which began on Wednesday, June 14, 2023 at the Takoradi Technical University where 155 units/pints of blood was recorded after the exercise was today, Friday, June 16, 2023 crowned with a durbar at the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital. At the Sekondi Nursing & Midwifery College, also on day one, saw 131 units/pints of blood were recorded to bring the total number to 286units/pints of blood at the end of day one.
Day 2 of the exercise took place at two Senior High Schools in the Sekondi-Takoradi; Ghana Secondary Technical School (GSTS) and Takoradi Senior High School(TADISCO) where over 300 students turned out to donate blood to help the course.
The Foundation is targeting 600 pints in the whole exercise to support the Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital Blood Bank.
Speaking to press at the event, the Executive Director of the GNPC Foundation, Dr Dominic Eduah said – “as you all know, GNPC Foundation is in to impact lives, we do it through various means, today we are on a health project and we choose blood donation as a way to go about it”.
“Infact before we initiate any project we undertake a couple of research exercises to ensure that we are doing the right thing, we engage Effia-Nkwanta Regional Hospital Blood Bank and we realize that the state of our blood Bank wasn’t the best so we needed to undertake this exercise to urgument what they already have so is our way of impacting lives through health.
And we have been doing this for the past three days with various institutions, today happens to be the day of GSTS and Tadisco, so from here we will be going to Takoradi Senior School”.
“As I indicated here the fifteen minutes exercise happening here is actually going to save somebody’s entire life and also a pint of blood that we see here is going to save somebody’s life so we don’t take it for granted at all and at this juncture I will like to thank the donors for doing this. And it’s not to exchange for nothing is actually the act of greatest kindness and I really appreciate it.
“Who ever donated today I asked for God’s blessings for the person because this is the act of kindness, it is done voluntarily and so one can not be said to have done it under influence and I really appreciate it. I’m very much impressed with the turn out by the students to donate and we are actually meeting our target for the exercise.
“We at the foundation will partner very well with the Effia Nkwanta Regional Hospital Blood Bank and ensure this becomes a regular exercise, we will support them to do that, this is the best way to save lives, in other words we are impacting lives, that’s actually what GNPC Foundation is meant to do.
He again used the opportunity to advise the students to take their studies serious and urged them that their doors at the foundation are also open for them to apply for scholarships at the GNPC Foundation right after completion.
“So far we have given close to 7,000 local tertiary scholarship and they can’t be an exception, its just a matter of you gaining admission into a tertiary institution and then you apply to the GNPC Foundation and we will be there to support you”.
The headmaster of GSTS, Rev.Dr. Kennedy Obeng also added his voice
“As an educational institution nurturing children for the society is one of our key mandate, it is our duty to support with anything that will help this children in the future that is why we opened our doors for this blood donation exercise to be done here.
Simon Boateng, who is a blood donor organiser at the Effie Nkwanta Regional Hospital also said there is a shortage of blood at the Blood band and called on Ghanaians and other institutions to also come to the aid of the Blood band by donating blood through some of this exercise.
