Nat’l blood bank sets up committee to investigate donor’s death

The National Blood Service has set up a committee to investigate circumstances leading to the death a 21year-old donor believed to have died after the Ashongman Community Hospital in Accra refused to give her blood, even though she is a blood donor.
According to Adolf Lawson, father of the level 300 student of the Catholic University, doctors at the Ghana Atomic Energy Hospital, where his daughter was on admission, directed him to the Ashongman Community Hospital to purchase blood for his sick daughter, since they did not have the essential fluid at their facility.
He said he went to the Ashongman community hospital with his daughter’s blood donation card, in the hope that the body fluid will be given to him at a reduced cost, but that was not the case.
“The Atomic hospital officials told me to go to the Ashongman community hospital for the blood since they did not have it. I then decided to go with my daughter’s blood donation card and my own card as well, since some privileges are extended to donors who are in need of blood. I got to the hospital and the lab technician told me that he could not reduce the blood cost of GHC340 even though I was a donor. But I did not have that much on me,” the distressed father said.
But Public Relations Officer for the National Blood Service, Stephen Addai reacting to the issue described the incident as unfortunate.
According to him, a committee has been set up to investigate the circumstances that led to the death.
He wondered why the Ashongman Community Hospital made no efforts to assist the father of the girl, regardless of his financial status, since he is a donor.
Meanwhile, Mr Addai said the report will be ready by Friday and further urged patience not to patronize the sale of blood.