Analysis of First Apheresis Services in Ghana-Greater Accra Regional Hospital

Background: At the combined American Society for Apheresis (ASFA) annual meeting/World Apheresis Association (WAA) Congress in 2014, it was observed that there were significant disparities with regard to the access of apheresis services within and across developing countries, with only few of such facilities available in Africa; notably South Africa and Nigeria. In 2019, Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) Unit-Ghana, acquired an apheresis machine. By the collaboration between BMT-Ghana, the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (GARH) and the Ministry of Health (Ghana), apheresis services is now available in Ghana. The aim of this paper is to present an analysis of apheresis services so far in Ghana.Method: A 24-month period from 2019 was examined, less the period of the COVID-19 outbreak when the Unit was virtually at a standstill. The electronic database and hard copies of documented activities were analysed. Basic information on demographics and procedure types and counts was used.Results: Data encompassed a cohort of 43 patients. Two (2) patients came from the West Africa sub-region with the rest from 6 out of the 14 regions of Ghana. The essential nature of the apheresis services being the first in Ghana, brought patients as far as 315 km from the hinterlands to the Unit. Ages ranged from 2-52 years with a mean of 16.3±15.3 years. Slightly more females (53%) received services than males (47%). Eighty-six percent (86%) of the patients were sickle cell patients referred to the Unit. Red Blood Cell exchange (RBCx) accounted for 76% of the procedures, followed by Continuous Mononuclear Cell Collection (CMNC) (16%) and lastly, Therapeutic Plasma Exchange (TPE) (8%).Conclusion: Ghana can now be counted among African countries offering apheresis services and the GARH is acknowledged as the only hospital in the country with this facility, thus improving patient care significantly.Funding Information: NIL.Conflict of Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.Ethical Approval: The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Bone Marrow Transplantation Ghana with ethics clearance number BMT-/1001501/GH/2022 issued. Furthermore, the study was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration of 1964 (revised in October, 2008), and consent from patients whose records were used.