By Omoyeni Ojeifo
In a bid to bridge Nigeria’s blood supply gap and improve access to safe blood and blood products, the Federal Government says it is reviewing the country’s 20-year-old National Blood Policy.
The review is also aimed at strengthening voluntary blood donation, improving blood safety and introducing systems for better traceability of blood from donation to transfusion.
PerSecondNews correspondent reports that the Director-General of the National Blood Service Agency, (NBSA), Prof. Saleh Yuguda, made the disclosure at the two-day National Blood Policy Review and Validation Workshop in Abuja, on Thursday.
Yuguda said the existing policy was formulated in 2005, before major developments in Nigeria’s health sector, including the National Health Act of 2014 and the National Blood Service Commission Establishment Act of 2021.
“The national blood policy was actually produced about 21 years ago. That was 2005, and as you are aware, so many things have happened over the 20-year gap. The document is very old, and so many events have taken place,” he said.
He explained that the revised policy would introduce haemovigilance to strengthen the safety of blood donation and transfusion by monitoring blood, donors and recipients throughout the transfusion process.
“By haemovigilance, I mean the traceability of the blood, right from the blood donor down to the blood bank, then to the recipient, and then we also follow up the recipient to see whether there is any adverse effect on it.”
In a seperate interview with PersecondNews, the NBSA DG revealed that Nigeria currently meets only about 30 percent of its national blood demand, stressing that increased voluntary blood donation remains critical to bridging the supply gap.
“There is a very huge deficit when we are talking about the demand and supply of blood in Nigeria. Like you rightly said, we are able to meet only 30% of our national demand.”
He noted that the revised policy would also prioritise donor mobilisation and retention while promoting wider public participation in voluntary blood donation across the country.
“Donor mobilization and retention, which is very key in the availability of blood. So the policy has in place a step-by-step action plan where we will now be engaging the public and the media to come out and be donating blood.”
In his goodwill message, the representative of the World Health Organisation, Dr. Hamzat Omotayo said the policy review comes at a critical time as Nigeria strengthens its health system and seeks to guarantee access to safe and quality-assured blood products.
“A strong national blood policy provides the foundation for a coordinated, sustainable and nationally owned blood service, supported by effective regulation, voluntary non-remunerated blood donation, quality systems, properly coordinated supply chains and meaningful engagement.”
Omotayo urged stakeholders to ensure the revised policy translates its commitments into practical and measurable actions capable of improving blood services nationwide.
“We encourage all participants to bring their expertise, experience and constructive perspectives to the process, with particular attention to translating policy commitments into practical, measurable and sustainable actions across all levels of the ecosystem.”
Also in her goodwill message, Dr. Abisola Adegoke, the Director of Hospital Services, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, said the review covers key areas including blood collection, quality assurance, testing, processing, safety, haemovigilance, emergency and risk management, as well as human resources and capacity building.
“This document being reviewed today is a product of hard work, which strongly aligns with the World Health Organization’s principles.
“However, we should be mindful that this document will only save lives when it is truly implemented by regulators and all relevant stakeholders at every health facility,” she said.
The Ministry called for rigorous technical scrutiny of the draft policy, urging participants to identify gaps and assess its practicality before final adoption.
“We need a frank technical scrutiny on all aspects of the document, including operational feasibility and gaps that may have been missed, so that what emerges at the end of the day is a document that the country can actually implement and not merely just adopting a paper.”
On his part, Dr. Sani Bako Abubakar , Consultant Haematologist and Director, Blood Services, NBSA, while giving the objectives of the policy review, explained that the workshop seeks to build stakeholder consensus on the revised policy and establish a framework that will apply across the country.
“The objective is to review, validate and build stakeholder consensus on the revised Nigerian National Blood Policy 2026 prior to finalisation and adoption, with its provisions binding on all personnel involved in transfusion medicine practice nationwide.”
Also speaking on the policy review and context, Dr. Adebayo Adeshola of the NBSA said the country’s blood collection remains significantly below its estimated annual requirement, underscoring the need for a stronger national framework.
“Nigeria’s population, as we know, is over 200 million, and that amounts to about 1.8 million units of blood annually. But collections have been less than 25 percent, highlighting a significant blood supply gap.”
Adeshola further added that the review process involved examining existing national and international frameworks to ensure that the revised policy reflects Nigeria’s laws while drawing from successful practices in other blood-service systems.
“We looked at African country policies to identify relevant approaches and lessons from comparable blood systems that could inform the Nigerian context, including South Africa, Ghana, Namibia, Malawi and Egypt, while also looking beyond Africa at India and international recommendations.”
Persecondnews also reports that the two-day workshop brings together government agencies, regulators, development partners, health professionals and other stakeholders to review and validate the revised policy before its final consideration and adoption.
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