Health Essentials
When blood is missing: The silent gaps in Ghana’s lifesaving system
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The call often comes at the worst possible moment. A mother is bleeding heavily after childbirth. A road crash victim has been rushed into surgery. A child with severe anaemia needs an urgent transfusion.
Then comes the message to relatives: “The patient needs blood. Find donors.”
Within minutes, family members begin making frantic calls, sending WhatsApp messages, and appealing on social media. Some race from one hospital to another in search of matching donors. Others simply pray that blood arrives before it is too late.
For many Ghanaians, this is their first encounter with a reality healthcare professionals know all too well-blood remains one of the country’s most critical and vulnerable healthcare resources.
Despite years of progress, experts say Ghana’s blood collection, storage, and transfusion system still faces significant gaps that affect access, quality, and safety. And in emergencies, those gaps can cost lives.
A system built out of necessity
For decades, hospitals across Ghana collected blood however they could because patients needed it. There was no law governing blood services. There was simply the urgent need to save lives.
It was only in 2020 that Parliament passed the Blood Service Act (Act 1042), establishing the National Blood Service (NBS) as the agency responsible for ensuring safe and adequate blood supplies nationwide.
Charity and philanthropy
According to Dr. Shirley Owusu-Ofori, Chief Executive Officer of the NBS, the law marked a major shift toward a coordinated national system. But reforming practices that evolved over generations remains a challenge.
The blood that is not there
One of the biggest weaknesses is Ghana’s continued dependence on family replacement donors. These are relatives and friends who donate blood only when someone they know requires a transfusion.
The preferred option, experts say, is a strong pool of voluntary, unpaid donors who donate regularly, allowing blood to be available before emergencies occur.
“The blood should be waiting when the emergency happens, not the other way round,” Dr. Owusu-Ofori said.
The numbers reveal the challenge.
The World Health Organization recommends that countries collect at least 10 units of blood per 1,000 people.
Ghana currently collects about 6.6 units per 1,000 population, an improvement from previous years but still well below the recommended threshold. Yet demand continues to rise.
An estimated 80 to 85 per cent of blood requests in Ghana are for emergencies, leaving little room for delays.
More than a bag of blood
Many people assume donated blood goes straight to a patient. It does not. Every unit must first be screened for infections such as HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and syphilis. It must then be processed, stored under strict temperature conditions, and transported safely.
Blood itself is not a single product. Red blood cells, plasma, and platelets all require different storage conditions and handling procedures.
Maintaining those standards requires specialized equipment, trained personnel, and continuous monitoring.
And that is where another challenge emerges.
The infrastructure gap
Across the country, some hospitals lack adequate blood storage facilities and the specialized equipment required to operate fully functional blood banks. Others depend on nearby facilities for supplies when emergencies arise.
While healthcare workers often improvise to meet patients’ needs, experts warn that blood safety cannot depend on improvisation.
Storage conditions, transportation systems, and quality controls must work every time.
A breakdown anywhere along the chain can compromise blood quality and patient safety.
Unequal access
Geography presents another challenge. For years, Ghana relied on three major blood centres in Accra, Kumasi, and Tamale to serve the entire country. The arrangement made blood collection and distribution across vast regions difficult and expensive.
To address this, the National Blood Service has established five regional blood centres in the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Northern, Volta, and Central regions.
More are planned.
But with 16 regions nationwide, large areas still remain underserved.
The result is uneven access to blood and blood products, particularly for facilities located far from regional centres.
Closing the regulatory gaps
The Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) says recent assessments have uncovered compliance challenges across the blood sector.
According to Dr. Edwin Nkansah, Director of Vaccine Vigilance and Clinical Trials at the FDA, gaps exist across the entire transfusion chain, from donor recruitment and testing to storage and transfusion practices.
To strengthen oversight, the FDA is embarking on a programme to regulate and license selected blood facilities across the country. The aim is not punishment, he stressed, but improvement.
Facilities will undergo audits, receive technical support, and be guided to meet approved standards.
The goal is simple: ensuring that blood transfused in any hospital meets the same safety requirements.
The missing link
For all the discussions about infrastructure, regulation, and accreditation, experts agree that the biggest solution lies with ordinary citizens.
Every unit of blood starts with a donor. Yet voluntary blood donation remains far below what the country requires.
Health officials estimate that if just one per cent of eligible Ghanaians donated blood regularly, shortages could be dramatically reduced.
That would mean fewer desperate appeals from hospital wards and fewer families scrambling for donors during medical emergencies.
A race against time
Ghana has made important strides in strengthening blood services. Collection rates are improving. Regulatory oversight is expanding. New regional centres are being established. Yet significant gaps remain.
And for the mother experiencing postpartum haemorrhage, the accident victim on the operating table, or the child awaiting a transfusion, those gaps are not statistics. They are the difference between life and death.
Until safe blood is available whenever and wherever it is needed, Ghana’s blood system will remain a critical work in progress—one whose success depends not only on regulators and hospitals, but also on the willingness of citizens to roll up their sleeves and donate.
Because when blood is missing, every second matters.- GNA
These last few months of 2026, I am embarking on a new journey. Over the past several months I have tried out some aspects of my “new way of life” but not in the manner I am doing now and I am sure you are doing same too. Draft your own points based on what is important to you and let us begin the journey together. It is never too late.
Many of the things I am working on now are guided by years of interaction with different people, what may be my purpose in my opinion, great family and friends and the type of wisdom that comes only with years.
- Self-Care
Quite often we try to take care of everything and everyone without ensuring we are appropriately “charged”. There is nothing to give out if you are empty. Self-care is NOT a luxury and it has taken me years to appreciate this;
- I will add a new hobby I have been toying with.
- Surrounding myself with like-minded people who energise me, make me laugh and be the best version of myself. Building Social capital pays.
- I am spending quality time with God daily
- Spending time in nature is key and I ensure that I take much needed breaks
- Spending a few minutes a day to meditate, exercise and spoil myself sometimes
- I will have some hours each day that will be blocked out as “no phone time”
- Keeping a Goal Diary
Many people have described ways of putting down your goals and seeing them happen. My coach taught me the power of VISUALISATION but over the years I went off that golden path. It’s time to get back. This is what I am doing now;
- In a diary I am writing everything I want to be or do as long as I have breath. No pressure.
- I am writing in the present tense; “I am spending an amazing week in a 7-Star resort with the people I love the most”
- I will look at this list everyday
- Start a Gratitude Bank
I listened to this recently and though it was not referred to as a Gratitude Bank, I believe that is exactly what it is
- I picked a diary to write in but others choose a transparent container to drop in written points. Choose what you are comfortable with.
- At the end of each week I will write something(s) I am grateful for and put in the container.
- Whenever I feel “ungrateful” I will read through them to remind myself how blessed I am and surely I will be holding the “evidence”
- On December 31, I will go through the list irrespective of my mood.
- Practice. Practice. Practice
This is exactly as it is – whatever you have written out in your diary to do from self-care through your goals etc. prioritise or focus on a few at a time. As you practice e.g. meditating, exercising, eating right and the many great things you want to do, these will all GROW. Whatever you practice GROWS.
- Make the world a better place
I believe that we can make a difference in our corner no matter the challenges.
- That smile will change someone’s life
- An act of kindness is contagious and the giver, receiver and all those observing benefit immensely. Let us spread kindness.
- The Blood Bank on my mind for this year and beyond.
What are you focusing on, what are you practicing?
Do share your list with me via email.
AS ALWAYS LAUGH OFTEN, ENSURE HYGIENE, WALK AND PRAY EVERYDAY AND REMEMBER IT’S A PRICELESS GIFT TO KNOW YOUR NUMBERS (blood sugar, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, BMI)
Dr. Kojo Cobba Essel
Health Essentials Ltd/ Medics Clinic
(dressel@healthessentialsgh.com)
*Dr. Essel is a Medical Doctor with a keen interest in Lifestyle Medicine, He holds an MBA and is an ISSA Specialist in Exercise Therapy, Fitness Nutrition and Corrective Exercise. He is the author of the award-winning book, ‘Unravelling The Essentials of Health & Wealth.’
Thought for the week –“Never change your originality for the sake of others because no one can play your role better than you. So be yourself. You are the best.” – Unknown
References:
- Unravelling the Essentials of Health & Wealth; Dr. Kojo Cobba Essel
When it comes to cancer risk factors; ALL RISK FACTORS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL. Someone may have several risk factors but remain perfectly fine while another may have only one or none yet end up with breast cancer or other cancers.
We cannot say with certainty that we can do all it takes to prevent cancer BUT we can do a lot to reduce our risk.
TEN (10) TIPS TO CANCER RISK REDUCTION
- Weight Control – being overweight or obese increases risk to SEVERAL cancers.
- Smoking – cigarette smoking predisposes one to several cancers including lung cancer. Other forms of air pollutants serve as risks too.
- Alcohol – limit intake or avoid. It has the power to expose one to several cancers as well especially when we can’t apply brakes to how much we consume.
- Healthy Eating
- Limit intake of processed food and sugar
- Limit intake of red meat
- Fruits and vegetables should be a mainstay of our diet.
- An antioxidant rich food like cocoa should be part of our food. The purer the cocoa, the better
- Fibre in your food is crucial.
- Exercise – on its own reduces risk for breast and colon cancers directly and many others through weight control.
- Also increases immunity.
- Cancer Screening – be regular so cancers can be detected early and managed aggressively.
- Vaccinations – take vaccines where needed e.g. Hep B vaccine or vaccine against HPV (human papilloma virus accounts for the majority of cervical cancers)
- Know your Family History
- Anyone in your family with a cancer? Necessary to be on your guard but also remember that you may be the first person in your family with a particular cancer.
- Start your family early and breast feed for as long as possible to reduce risk of breast cancer.
- Check exposure to Ultraviolet Light and other forms of radiation. Protect your skin.
- Practice SAFE SEX
- HPV infection leading to cervical cancer is commoner when one is exposed to sex early, directly or indirectly has multiple partners but NOT everyone follows this rule. As in many situations, outliers do exist.
- Conditions such as HIV/AIDS may suppress your immune system if not managed appropriately.
Do add two (2) others of your choice and send to me via email. Together we can protect ourselves.
Will treating H. Pylori infections be a game changer too?
ALWAYS remember that CANCER PREVENTION HAS NO QUICK FIX – we need to follow these points over and over.
AS ALWAYS LAUGH OFTEN, ENSURE HYGIENE, WALK AND PRAY EVERYDAY AND REMEMBER IT’S A PRICELESS GIFT TO KNOW YOUR NUMBERS (blood sugar, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, BMI)
Dr. Kojo Cobba Essel
Health Essentials Ltd/ Medics Clinic
(dressel@healthessentialsgh.com)
*Dr. Essel is a Medical Doctor with a keen interest in Lifestyle Medicine, He holds an MBA and is an ISSA Specialist in Exercise Therapy, Fitness Nutrition and Corrective Exercise. He is the author of the award-winning book, ‘Unravelling The Essentials of Health & Wealth.’
Thought for the week – “WHERE YOU LIVE SHOULD NOT DETERMINE IF YOU LIVE.”- WHO
By Dr. Kojo Cobba Essel
