Koforidua, Dec 3, GNA- Thirteen pregnant women died this year at the Koforidua Regional Hospital due to lack of blood.

Most of the affected women were teenagers or mothers having more than four children who did not visit the hospital regularly to enable the health workers to monitor and advise them.

Dr Ebenezer Appiah-Denkyirah, the Eastern Regional Director of Health Services said this at the celebration of the 4th Blood Donor's Award Day in the Eastern Region on Wednesday.

He appealed to community leaders to organise people to donate blood and to arrange for early transportation of the sick to hospitals.

Dr Appiah-Denkyirah said this year the region recorded 1,260 abortions that were performed outside the hospitals and brought to the hospitals when the lives of the women involved appeared threatened.

He said the Koforidua Blood Transfusion Centre received 1,875 units of blood, voluntarily donated this year.

Institutions donated 871 units, 124 by churches, 105 by individual voluntary blood donors and 725 through the replacement of blood used for relatives of the donors.

Baafour Adjei Tuffour, Krontihene of New Juaben Traditional Area and chairman of the Regional Hospital Rehabilitation Committee, appealed to churches in the New Juaben Municipality to organise themselves to donate blood to the Regional Centre.

He congratulated the International Central Gospel Church, the SDA Church and the Global Evangelical Church for organising blood donation to the Centre.

As part of the activities, four media houses and two institutions that supported the Centre in its blood donation campaign were awarded certificates of honour.

They are the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Eastern FM, Sunrise FM and Koforidua Polytechnic FM. The institutions are the Abuakwa State College and Agua Secretariat, a private secretariat school in Koforidua. Abuakwa State College was given an award for donating 174 units of blood to the centre this year, while Agua Secretariat often respond to emergency calls from the blood bank.

Mr Emmanuel Yeboah-Djan, a member of the Red Cross Society who helped to organise people to donate blood, received the highest award of a Tobica Radio Cassette recorder with remote control. GNA