Workers of the Health Ministry will soon begin to donate blood to the Ghana Blood Bank on a regular basis in a new programme which is yet to be rolled out.

Ghanaians have over the years developed a lackadaisical attitude towards blood donation due to possible fears of contracting HIV-AIDS.

But Mr Segbefia said those are just misconceptions, adding “I will encourage everybody regardless of what you are doing and where you are to find at least 30 minutes or one hour in your year period and donate blood.”

Statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicates that blood donations in the continent increased from 3.9 million in 2013 to 4.4 million in 2016.

The acting Head of Korle Bu Blood Bank said the increase in blood donation is encouraging.

“The amount of blood we’ve had from voluntary donors has gone up significantly and if you look at the beginning of the year to this point in June, for instance, there’s been an increase of over 30 percent compared to the same period last year,” he noted.

“And we believe that as more and more people realise that you don’t have to wait for a relative to require a transfusion before you can donate blood we will get more donors in the future,” he said.