Nigeria’s blood supply crisis has deepened, with the National Blood Service Agency saying its centres collected only 24,000 to 25,000 units of blood in 2025, far below the volume needed to meet the transfusion needs of the country’s over 200 million population.

The agency said Nigeria needed at least two per cent of its population to participate in blood donation to bridge the supply gap, improve access to safe blood and reduce the pressure on patients’ relatives, who are often compelled to source donors during medical emergencies.

The Director-General of the NBSA, Prof. Saleh Yuguda, disclosed this through the Head of Operations Centre, Dr Aliyu Dahiru Waziri, at a media roundtable on voluntary blood donation organised by the agency in collaboration with the International Society of Media in Public Health, on Saturday.

A transcript of the event was obtained by our correspondent on Sunday.

Yuguda said inadequate voluntary donations remained a major obstacle to achieving sufficient national blood reserves despite efforts to improve blood collection and strengthen transfusion services.

He said, “Although the agency has been doing quite a lot in the past few years to make sure this mandate is being met, we still have some challenges when it comes to the total units of blood we are able to generate.

“As of last year, if we only take the census in the National Blood Service, we will only be talking about 24,000 or 25,000 units of blood generally. But with a population of more than 200 million people, we should be talking about at least two per cent of our population giving blood. So there is a huge gap that we need to fill.”

The disclosure comes amid growing concerns over Nigeria’s inability to meet its annual blood requirements, estimated at between 1.8 million and two million units.

The World Health Organisation, in a June 2026 report on access to safe blood in Nigeria, said the country required an estimated 1.8 million to two million units annually but continued to fall significantly short of demand.

The WHO also reported that official figures from the National Blood Service Commission showed that 371,827 units were collected in 2024, while voluntary blood donations increased from 12,568 in 2024 to 16,344 in 2025.

The figures highlight the gap between the country’s overall blood requirements and the contribution of voluntary donors, despite efforts to expand donation programmes and strengthen the national blood system.

The WHO recommends that countries collect at least 10 units of blood per 1,000 people annually to meet basic clinical needs, while emphasising that voluntary, unpaid donors provide the safest and most reliable blood supply.

The shortage has serious implications for maternal healthcare, emergency surgeries, road traffic accident victims, children with severe anaemia and patients living with sickle cell disease and cancer.

According to the WHO, postpartum haemorrhage accounts for approximately 23 to 30 per cent of maternal deaths in Nigeria, making timely access to safe blood particularly important in managing childbirth complications.

Waziri said the agency was strengthening its regulatory and monitoring framework to improve the safety, quality and traceability of blood collected and distributed across the country.

He disclosed that the NBSA was introducing a digital platform, the National Blood Management System, to monitor the collection, processing, distribution and use of donated blood.

According to him, the electronic system would make it possible to trace every unit of blood from the donor to the recipient and identify the source of any complications arising from transfusion.

“One, we are trying to digitalise the process of collection, monitoring and even ensuring the safety of the blood through the programme that we call the National Blood Management System. It is an electronic system that will be able to track every unit from the donor to the person who receives the blood. And should there be a problem, we will be able to track that unit back to the person who donated the blood,” he said.

Waziri also said the NBSA was strengthening the registration and regulation of public and private blood banks, stressing that hospitals and blood transfusion establishments must register with the agency to ensure compliance with approved standards.

He added that the agency was expanding its hospital linkage programme to improve blood distribution and prevent practices that could compromise the quality and safety of donated blood.

According to him, individuals collecting blood from NBSA centres using ordinary coolers without adequate temperature-control arrangements could expose the blood to unsafe storage and transportation conditions.

“What we are trying to avoid now is for individuals to come on their own to the National Blood Service Centres with coolers to say they are going to collect blood. It is not right,” he said.

He explained that under the hospital linkage arrangement, registered health facilities would communicate their blood requirements to the agency, enabling it to forecast demand and organise distribution more effectively.

The NBSA official also called for government intervention to make blood available free of charge, arguing that eliminating financial barriers would improve access for patients requiring transfusion and encourage a stronger culture of voluntary donation.

On capacity development, Waziri disclosed that the agency, in collaboration with international partners, had trained personnel from 30 institutions on safe blood donation procedures and clinical transfusion practices.

He said the programme also involved training auditors to assess blood transfusion practices in hospitals and ensure compliance with established safety standards.

Waziri further announced plans to establish stem cell and blood banking services, including a database of potential stem cell donors to support patients requiring stem cell transplantation.

He said the initiative would also explore cord blood banking, which involves preserving stem cells collected from umbilical cord blood after childbirth for possible medical applications.

He urged journalists to address cultural misconceptions surrounding cord blood collection and related medical procedures, stressing that public education would be crucial to the success of the initiative.

Earlier, veteran journalist and health communication advocate, Moji Makanjuola, called on media organisations to intensify advocacy for voluntary blood donation, describing public enlightenment as essential to addressing Nigeria’s persistent blood shortage.

Makanjuola said journalists should consistently educate Nigerians on the importance of blood donation, eligibility requirements, approved donation centres and the need to donate voluntarily without expecting financial rewards.

She identified misinformation and cultural misconceptions as major barriers, noting that some Nigerians wrongly believed that blood donation caused weakness, infertility, illness or permanent loss of blood.

She urged journalists to counter such beliefs with accurate information from healthcare professionals and blood transfusion experts, while educating the public on donor screening and the prevention of transfusion-transmissible infections.

Makanjuola also called for improved healthcare infrastructure, particularly at the primary healthcare level, where inadequate electricity and blood storage facilities could undermine the availability of safe blood.

She urged journalists to investigate conditions in healthcare facilities and hold policymakers accountable for ensuring that hospitals had functional blood banks and appropriate equipment.

The health communication advocate further advocated sustained blood donation campaigns throughout the year rather than reliance on emergency appeals when patients urgently required transfusions.

“Journalists should encourage people to become regular voluntary blood donors rather than donating only during emergencies. This helps to maintain a stable supply of safe blood in hospitals and blood banks,” she said.

Also speaking, Isah said Nigeria faced a 40 per cent shortfall in its required national blood reserves, attributing the situation partly to the country’s continued dependence on family replacement donations.

He said the campaign was designed to change the practice whereby patients’ relatives were often compelled to search for donors when blood was urgently required in hospitals.

Isah identified misinformation, cultural beliefs and fear as major obstacles to voluntary blood donation, citing misconceptions that women should not donate blood, that blood banks sold donated blood and that donated blood could be used for rituals.

He said the campaign would deploy radio dramas, jingles, infographics, television programmes and social media content, including translations into local languages, to reach wider audiences.

He described voluntary blood donation as a safe and selfless act capable of saving lives, urging Nigerians to make regular donations rather than wait for emergencies.

Similarly, the President of the Association of Nigerian Health Journalists, Joseph Kadiri, described voluntary blood donation as a humanitarian responsibility that transcended religious, ethnic and political differences.

Kadiri said access to blood during medical emergencies should take priority over differences in religion, political affiliation or geographical background.

He reaffirmed the association’s commitment to public education on voluntary blood donation, disclosing that the issue would feature at its annual health conference scheduled for November 26.