Educational institutions urged to support blood donation

Dr E. Addo-Yobo, Head of Child Health Directorate of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), in Kumasi, has urged heads of educational institutions to participate in voluntary blood donation campaigns.

He said the support of heads of schools and colleges in creating awareness among students, is crucial for sustained voluntary blood donation to help stock the blood bank of the hospital.

Dr Addo-Yobo was speaking at a day’s capacity building workshop, organized by the Transfusion Medicine Unit (TMU) of KATH for selected Heads, Principals and Managers of Senior High Schools, in Kumasi, on Saturday.

Shortage of blood, he said, has been one of the major causes of maternal and infant mortality in hospitals, while at the same time causing palpitations, poor memory, poor cognitive development, heart failure and other health related diseases among patients.

Dr Addo-Yobo stressed the need for heads of schools to organize counseling services for their students, to enable them to understand the importance of blood in health care delivery.

Dr Baffour Awuah, Medical Director of KATH said intermittent blood shortages at the hospital’s blood bank had been one of the hindrances of health care delivery at the hospital.

He said voluntary donation is the only way to promote availability of blood, especially in dealing with emergency situations, such as accidents, and advised students, who are mostly the youth, to donate at all times to support the bank.

Dr Shirley Owusu-Ofori, Head of the TMU said the workshop, which is the first of its kind, would be extended to other organizations, like religious bodies, businesses and the media, as a means of creating greater awareness and encouraging voluntary donation.

She said the fact that the hospital is prescribing blood, under the national health insurance scheme, is putting much pressure on the blood bank and that there was the need for an intensive campaign to ensure regular supply at the blood bank.

Source: GNA

Educational institutions urged to support blood donation

Dr E. Addo-Yobo, Head of Child Health Directorate of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), in Kumasi, has urged heads of educational institutions to participate in voluntary blood donation campaigns.

He said the support of heads of schools and colleges in creating awareness among students, is crucial for sustained voluntary blood donation to help stock the blood bank of the hospital.

Dr Addo-Yobo was speaking at a day’s capacity building workshop, organized by the Transfusion Medicine Unit (TMU) of KATH for selected Heads, Principals and Managers of Senior High Schools, in Kumasi, on Saturday.

Shortage of blood, he said, has been one of the major causes of maternal and infant mortality in hospitals, while at the same time causing palpitations, poor memory, poor cognitive development, heart failure and other health related diseases among patients.

Dr Addo-Yobo stressed the need for heads of schools to organize counseling services for their students, to enable them to understand the importance of blood in health care delivery.

Dr Baffour Awuah, Medical Director of KATH said intermittent blood shortages at the hospital’s blood bank had been one of the hindrances of health care delivery at the hospital.

He said voluntary donation is the only way to promote availability of blood, especially in dealing with emergency situations, such as accidents, and advised students, who are mostly the youth, to donate at all times to support the bank.

Dr Shirley Owusu-Ofori, Head of the TMU said the workshop, which is the first of its kind, would be extended to other organizations, like religious bodies, businesses and the media, as a means of creating greater awareness and encouraging voluntary donation.

She said the fact that the hospital is prescribing blood, under the national health insurance scheme, is putting much pressure on the blood bank and that there was the need for an intensive campaign to ensure regular supply at the blood bank.

Source: GNA

Agricultural Colleges urged to introduce entrepreneurship 
     
Nii Amasah Namoale, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, has charged agricultural institutions in the country to introduce entrepreneurship in their curriculum.
     
This he said would help inculcate entrepreneurial skills that will encourage their graduates to set up their own commercial farms.
     
Nii Amasah Namoale said as frontline staff, graduates from agricultural colleges have huge responsibility in transforming the sector to make it more attractive to the youth, to enable the government to achieve the goals of the agricultural sector.
     
The Deputy Minister said government is providing a conducive environment for agricultural modernization and that “it is important for the graduates from the colleges to enter into farming along side their normal work to serve as role models to the youth”.
     
Nii Amasah Namorle made the call at a joint graduation ceremony of the first batch of diploma graduates in general agriculture from the Kwadaso and Ohawu agricultural colleges, in Kumasi, on Saturday.
     
One Hundred and three (103) graduates, comprising 55 from Kwadaso and 48 from Ohawu received certificates in general agriculture.
     
The Minister said there are a lot of opportunities in the food chain and agribusiness sector and there was the need for them to use the knowledge and skills acquired to create jobs for themselves instead of waiting to be employed by the government.
     
He advised the Colleges to undertake self-help initiatives and embark on projects and activities that would generate incomes to augment government resources provided to them.
     
Dr Ernest Okorley, who represented the Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, advised the graduates to endeavour to make positive contributions to society.
     
The Principal of the Kwadaso Agricultural College Mr Kwabena Fosu Kontor said the students have been given the needed knowledge and skills to address some of the emerging challenges in modern agriculture and hope they would live up to expectation.
 
 
Source: GNA
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