Melcom Care Foundation, as part of supporting healthcare delivery, has organised a nationwide voluntary blood donation exercise to address the acute shortage at the Blood Bank.
The donation exercise was organised at 27 Melcom retail shops, namely Melcom Mall-spintex, Melcom Plus-North Kaneshie, Tema, Ashaiman, Kisseiman, Koforidua, Nkawkaw, Ho, Hohoes, Aflo, Cape Coast, Swedru and Takoradi.
Other points of donation were Melcom Tarkwa, Sunyani, Tamale, Wa, Bolgatanga, two in Kumasi, East Legon, Nanakrom, Mankessim, Frafaha, UPSA and East Legon Boundary Road.
Melcom Group of Companies Director of Communications, Godwin Avenorgbo, told journalists at Melcom Mall-Spintex in Accra, that the retail giant was the only corporate organisation that had organised blood donation exercises continuously for seven years.
He said the blood donation exercise formed part of Melcom’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to improve health and save life.
Mr. Avenorgbo debunked a perception among some sections of the public that corporate organisations took advantage of blood donations to enrich them, saying Melcom does not handle blood, but the National Blood Service of Ghana and its officers were in charge of collecting blood for the treatment of patients.
“On this occasion, we have received the support of the National Blood Service and the Graphic Clinic to bleed as many pints of blood as possible for storage in all well equipped hospitals in Ghana,” he added.
He said Melcom’s main focus of social responsibility was grounded on health and education, hence the yearly donations in these area.
At the end of the exercise, 2,184 pints of blood were bled and distributed to the various hospitals.
