Blood donation is good for the country’s health
Yesterday, 14 June, the 2026 Blood Donor Day was held with the theme, ‘One Drop of Humanity. Give Blood. Save Lives.’ Even when less than 10 per cent of Nigerians donate blood voluntarily and the country is currently reeling under the onslaught of serious shortage of safe blood products, there was not much awareness campaign to demonstrate seriousness on this issue. With a message that each voluntary donation is a powerful expression of solidarity and compassion, we call on Nigerians to cultivate the habit of voluntary blood donation, because of what it means to the health of our society.
Statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO) reveal that Nigeria needs an average of 1.8 million pints of blood annually whereas the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) collects only 500,000 pints of blood, a shortfall of about 73.3 per cent. This has resulted in a situation in which most hospitals and patients in the country depend on commercial donors for their blood needs. In other countries, people usually donate blood voluntarily because it feels good to help others, and such altruism has been linked to a lower risk for depression and greater longevity.
