Nigeria faces blood crisis as supply fails to meet demand

Nigeria grapples with an alarming blood crisis, with the National Blood Service Agency reporting that it collected only 24,000 to 25,000 units of blood in 2025, far below the country's needs. With a population exceeding 200 million, the agency estimates that at least 2% of the population must donate blood to meet the demand. Currently, voluntary donations fall short of covering the annual requirement of 1.8 million to 2 million units.

The shortage poses significant risks to maternal healthcare, emergency surgeries, road accident victims, children with severe anaemia, and patients with sickle cell disease and cancer. The Director-General of the NBSA, Prof. Saleh Yuguda, highlighted inadequate voluntary donations as a major obstacle to achieving sufficient national blood reserves.

To address this, the agency is introducing a digital platform, the National Blood Management System, to monitor the entire blood donation process. The system will track every unit of blood from donor to recipient, ensuring safety and traceability. The NBSA is also strengthening the regulation and monitoring of public and private blood banks, as well as expanding its hospital linkage programme to improve blood distribution and prevent unsafe practices.

The agency is seeking government intervention to make blood available free of charge, as financial barriers can hinder access to transfusions and encourage voluntary donations.