Accra | Ministry of Health | 31 March 2022

The National Blood Service (NBS), under the auspices of the Ministry of Health, launched a national strategy on screening donated blood and immune-haematological testing. The development of this National Strategy is to ensure effective screening of donated blood for transfusion-transmissible infections, blood group determination and compatibility testing as a core component of Ghana’s national blood safety programme. It has been developed to standardize the testing strategies for blood and blood components nationwide.

The book was launched on Tuesday, 8 March 2022, at the Ministry of Health (MOH) Conference room. Management Members of the NBS attended the event, together with representatives of the Minister/Ministry of Health and media members.

The recommendations outlined in this National Strategy and critical algorithms have been developed to guide and support all blood collection and testing facilities and hospital blood banks to establish appropriate, effective and reliable blood-screening and immuno-haematological testing plans in the facilities. It also contains vital recommendations for screening donated blood for TTI, blood grouping and compatibility testing, and guidance and algorithms for the performance of these tests.

Click this link to download a summary e-book on National Strategy for Screening of Donated Blood and Immuno-haematological Testing. Soon, soft copies of the Strategy can also be downloaded from the NBS website.