Vodafone Ghana has embarked on a blood donation exercise to help save lives of persons who sustained severe injuries in the recent twin disaster-flood and fire that hit Accra.

The exercise, that saw staff of UT Bank, Stanbic Bank, Price Waterhouse Coopers (PWC), SSNIT, Holiday Inn, Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) and other organizations thronging the venue to offer voluntary support, seeks at increasing the country's blood stock levels in handling flood -related emergency cases.

In the early hours of Friday, eager staff some of who were first time donors were seen in queues at the hotel premises to donate blood.
Speaking to the press, Corporate Communications Manager of Vodafone Ghana, Ebenezer Amanquah, said it’s a great joy for Vodafone Ghana to be part of this exercise that seeks at saving life.

According to him, the exercise was part of Vodafone’s duty of giving back to the society and to also help the blood bank have enough blood to save lives during emergencies.
“We realised that the unavailability of blood meant that more lives could be lost. As a caring brand, Vodafone Ghana was touched by the plight of the flood and fire victims, we believe we have a role to play in saving the lives of victims of the floods and the associated emergency cases,” he said.

Mr. Amanquah further noted that it’s relevant for one to donate as pints of blood can save the life of an individual.

“Donating a pint of blood means saving the life of an individual,” he said.
He urged the general public to go for regular check-ups and not wait until they got sick before visiting the hospital.

For her part, Director of National Blood Service, Dr. Justina Ansah, commended Vodafone for organizing the donation exercise to help save life in the community in which it operates in.

According to her, the blood bank is always in need of blood and therefore there is a need for every citizen to contribute its quarter by donating to the blood bank to help save a life.

She urged the media, churches, mosques, and educational institutions to allow NBTS some time when they visit them to educate people on the need to donate blood “since it was lack of education that was informing people’s decision not to donate”.
Meanwhile, Vodafone Group has supported Vodafone Ghana Foundation with £100,000 to provide relief items to displaced families, support hospitals with supplies, and set up at community screening exercise for communities mostly hit by the flood including Glefe, Nungua, Tema New Town and Nima.