Ghana does not collect as much blood as its hospitals use, so the gap is filled in the most stressful way possible: a relative is told, at a bedside, to go and find donors before an operation. Giving blood regularly, before anyone you know needs it, is how that gap closes.

Blood in Ghana is collected, tested and supplied by the National Blood Service Ghana (NBSG).

Who can give

The National Blood Service accepts donors who:

  • are 17 to 60 years old;
  • weigh 50 kg or more;
  • are in good general health, and have eaten;
  • pass a short health questionnaire and a check of their blood count (haemoglobin) on the day.

You can give whole blood about every 4 months.

You may be asked to wait if you have malaria or another infection now or recently, are pregnant or recently gave birth, have had a tattoo or piercing recently, or take certain medicines. The staff decide on the day; answer the questions honestly, because the questions protect the patient who receives your blood.

Where to give in Accra

  • The National Blood Service at Korle Bu - the service’s base, where the blood bank takes walk-in voluntary donors.
  • Hospital blood banks, including the teaching and regional hospitals.
  • Blood drives - at churches, universities, workplaces, and the radio stations’ annual campaigns. These are announced on the stations and social media, often around World Blood Donor Day in June.

Call ahead or check the service’s social media for current hours, and take your Ghana Card.

What happens

  1. Registration and a health questionnaire.
  2. A finger-prick test of your blood count, and your blood pressure.
  3. The donation itself, lying down: about ten minutes.
  4. A drink and a snack, and a short rest before you go.

Drink plenty of water before and after, eat beforehand, and do not do heavy exercise for the rest of the day. Your body replaces the fluid within a day and the cells over the following weeks.

Your blood is tested for HIV, hepatitis B and C and syphilis before it is used. If a test is positive you should be contacted and referred - which makes donating a free screening as well.

“Replacement” donors

Hospitals often ask a patient’s family to provide donors, to replace the blood the patient will use. It is how the blood bank keeps its stock, but it puts the burden on families at the worst moment.

  • You do not have to match the patient’s blood group to be a replacement donor. Your donation goes into the stock.
  • Nobody should be paid for blood. Paid “donors” found at hospital gates are a risk to patients; tell the blood bank if someone offers.
  • Regular donors sometimes get priority for their family. Ask the blood bank how its donor card works.

— Hospitals in Accra — Sickle cell