Mr Affail Monney, the President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), on Thursday urged journalists to donate blood frequently to help boost stock at the Blood Bank to save lives.

“It’s not always that we must go cup-in-hand to appeal for help, this is the time for us to also demonstrate our ability to give, for there is more blessing in giving than receiving”, he said.

Mr Monney was speaking at the Blood Donation exercise held by the Association in Accra as part of events to commemorate its 70th Anniversary.

It forms part of the GJA’s contribution to give back to society by ensuring that the Blood Bank had enough in stock to save lives if the need arose.

He said the exercise would be replicated in the regions and called on media houses to create the awareness through their various regional offices to encourage more journalist and the general public to participate.

He commended the National Blood Bank for collaborating with the Association to organise the exercise and Nestle Ghana Limited for sponsoring it.

Dr Justina Kordai Ansah, the Chief Executive Officer, National Blood Service Ghana, said some media houses had been phenomenal in terms of creating awareness and donating, adding that the country’s Blood Bank was not self-sufficient and needed more collaborations to improve on stock.

She said blood donation was a civic responsibility of every citizen to ensure the current blood demands were met, adding; “Currently demand is higher than supply, hence the need to donate more.”

She commended the GJA for including blood donation in the activities of its 70th Anniversary and called on other organisations to emulate the gesture.

Dr Ansah urged media organisations to use their platforms to increase awareness on the significance of donating blood.

Maame K. Stephens, Brand Ambassador, National Blood Service Ghana, congratulated the GJA for the strides made and said the Service would present awards, durng the 24th GJA Awards, in recognition of the voluntary blood donation by media houses.

She asked the public to avail themselves or encourage others to donate to ensure availability of blood at all times.

Nestle Ghana Limited offered some of its energy food products to donors.