The Director-General of the National Blood Service Agency, Prof. Saleh Yuguda, says Nigeria currently supplies less than 30 per cent of its blood needs, highlighting a critical shortage in the country’s blood supply.
Yuguda said this on Sunday in celebration of the third National Blood Donor Day at the Family Worship Centre, Abuja.
The day was aimed at promoting voluntary blood donation and recognising the contributions of indigenous blood donors, and a parley with religious leaders in mobilising community support for blood donation and promoting a culture of voluntary giving.
He said, “As you are all aware, blood is a very scarce commodity, which is very scarce in our society. In fact, the World Health Organisation estimated that here in Nigeria, we are short of blood supply. We can supply less than 30 per cent of our needs.
“So that is very unique. We also know that blood is not available, as I said earlier, and we have a shortage of supply. And this is largely due to the fact that you and I that are healthy are not willing to come out and donate. So we want to use this opportunity to call on all Nigerians to come out and donate blood freely. You stand a chance to benefit from this because you are actually saving humanity.
“And the advantages are numerous. Because for every one pint of blood that you donate, you stand a chance of saving at least three lives.”
The don said the majority of those who die from road traffic accidents die because of a shortage of blood.
“So, we are therefore calling on all willing Nigerians to come out and donate blood freely. We want to use this opportunity to appreciate the Family Worship Centre for giving us this opportunity to come out. We have been moving from one community to another, and we felt that the community engagement is paramount in achieving our target of our self-sufficiency in blood supply in the country.
“That’s why we are here calling on the religious bodies to come and support us, and also call on their congregations to come out freely to be donating blood,” he stated.
A Pastor at the Family Worship Centre, Wilson Akubo, urged religious leaders across Nigeria to rally their congregations in support of blood donation.
Speaking on behalf of the Senior Pastor of the church, Serah Omakwu, Akubo highlighted the critical role that faith communities can play in saving lives.
“For the past 20 years, we have been actively involved in saving lives through blood donation. I implore all churches, pastors, and imams to inspire their members to donate blood willingly. It is a life-saving act, and when we do this, we do it as a service to God,” he said.
According to WHO, blood transfusion saves lives and improves health, but many patients requiring transfusion do not have timely access to safe blood.
The global health body noted that there is a marked difference in the level of access to blood between low- and high-income countries.
