Key Persons at the event
The National Blood Service (NBS) in conjunction with the Global Blood Fund has launched the ‘How Blood Has Touched My Life,’ story contest to inspire the public engage in more voluntary blood donation to save lives.
The competition requires that blood donors, blood recipient, or individuals connected to persons who have undergone blood transfusions to share their personal stories through essays.
Participants of the contest must prepare a story of at least 300 words but not more than 2000 words accompanied with pictures and videos to make their story more impactful. The story should then be submitted to www.Ghana.bloodstory.org.
The contest, which is set to end on August 31, 2023, will award GH¢ 5,000 to the first-place winner, GH¢3,000 to the second-place winner, and GH¢2,000 the third place winner.
CEO of NBS Dr. Shirley Owusu-Ofori, stated that the sharing of these stories will help make a difference and communicate the importance of blood donations to the public.
“Essentially this contest is to challenge individuals to share captivating personal stories about how blood has touched their lives,” she said.
The 2023 World Blood Donor Day was celebrated in Accra on the theme, ‘We Live Because You Give; Give Blood, Give Plasma, Share Life, Share Often.’
The ECG Power Queens, Happy FM, Presbyterian Church Ghana; Ebenezer Congregation Mamprobi, Ghana Muslim Mission, Accra, and the Holy Spirit Cathedral, Accra received citations from their NBS in recognition of their efforts in increasing the number of blood donations in the country.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Minister of Health, Kwaku Agyeman-Manu, expressed his ministry’s commitment to aiding the NBS in their mission to have adequate blood at all times as it will aid in the attainment of international health targets.
“Blood is essential in the managing pregnancies, cancer situations, bone-marrow transfusions, and childhood diseases and accidents situations. There is no way we can achieve targets for universal health coverage without us having timely accessible blood,” he shared.
By Abigail Atinuke Seyram Adeyemi