The Deputy Chief of Staff (Medical) at the Ghana Armed Forces, Major-General Dr Raymond Ewusi has urged Ghanaians to take proper care of themselves by going for regular medical check-ups and also avoid things that will require the need for urgent blood emergencies.

He made this statement as the Guest Speaker at the 2024 Insurance Industry Blood donation campaign launch. “what I will say is that blood is life and all of us, the reason to donate blood should be the reason to save lives. I will encourage everybody to donate. According to the CEO of the National Blood Service, we need about 200,000 units of blood a year.

Everybody should take good care of themselves, have regular medical check-ups so that you don’t have emergencies, people should drive properly and people should avoid things that will not make them need blood in an emergency”, Major-General Ewusi admonished.

The National Insurance Commission (NIC) with the collaborative effort of its key industry stakeholders, including the Ghana Insurers Association (GIA), the Insurance Brokers Association of Ghana (IBAG), the Chartered Insurance Institute of Ghana (CIIG), the ECOWAS Brown Card Insurance Scheme, WAICA Reinsurance, and the Ghana Insurance College (GIC), and the National Association of Ghana Insurance Agents (NAGIA) has made significant strides in supporting the National Blood Service, Ghana. The Insurance Industry’s blood donation campaign is focused on mainly saving the lives of pregnant women, children with cancers, and accident victims. The overarching objective is aimed at donating blood to support all the country’s major blood banks.

Speaking at the launch in Accra, the Commissioner of Insurance (ag.), Mr Michael Kofi Andoh, pledged the insurance industry’s continuous support for the supply of blood from members of the public and industry players while lauding organizations and individuals for patronizing this annual blood donation campaign. With the 2024 campaign launched, Mr Michael Andoh called on all insurance companies, brokers, agents and the general public to support this worthy cause.

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the National Blood Service (NBS), Dr Shirley Owusu-Ofori also encouraged Ghanaians to engage actively in blood donation activities to help improve the health sector of the country.

The industry instituted the blood donation campaign in 2021 and has since supported the NBS with 5,019 pints of blood.

Present at the launch were Mr Seth K. Aklasi, President of GIA, Mr Shaibu Ali, President of IBAG, and Mr Solomon Lartey, President of CIIG. Also present were Mrs Mercy Boampong who represented the Ghana National Bureau of the ECOWAS Brown Card Insurance Scheme, Mr Gustav Siale, a former Managing Director of Ghana Reinsurance Company and an advocate for voluntary blood donation, among several other CEOs who also donated blood at the launch.