The Ondo State Government has urged residents to support constant, voluntary blood donation for a healthier society and to save lives in the state.

The Director of Laboratory Services, state Ministry of Health, Bantale Adedotun-Banjo, gave the advice on Thursday at the commemoration of 2026 World Blood Donor Day in Akure.

The theme of the day was ‘One Drop of Humanity. Give Blood, Save Lives.’

Ms Adedotun-Banjo noted that the importance of blood donation could not be overemphasised, stating that a single unit of blood could save up to three lives through its various components.

She lauded APIN, a development partner, for its continuous collaboration with the ministry, stating  that the partnership had enhanced efforts in public health with a shared goal of saving lives and building a healthier society.

“When we donate blood, we give hope to patients and families facing critical health challenges and we become partners in saving lives and restoring health.

“Unfortunately, the demand for blood exceeds the available supply. That is why voluntary, regular and non-remunerated blood donation remains the safest and most sustainable way to maintain an adequate blood supply,” she said.

Also, the Prevention Lead, APIN Public Health Initiatives, Adijat Suraju, said there had been an increase in blood donation on a yearly basis in the state.

According to Ms Suraju, blood donation is a life-saving initiative that must be encouraged and supported for a healthy society.

She stated, “The response of blood donation has actually been increasing in the number of blood that is gotten; that is, the blood donors are readily available. That is the essence of awareness that is being done today. So, it also increases the number of blood donations that we get on an annual basis.

“We might not have had that large number that we intend, and that’s why we’re also here. But it has actually increased from the numbers we had before this awareness was created. So we also expect that increase again or even more than that for this year going forward. So, it’s encouraging. By giving blood, you directly impact patients in need of emergency care, surgeries, and cancer treatments, truly giving others a second chance at life.

“When there is blood available in the health facilities, people that require blood, usually during emergency times, don’t need to start looking for blood donors. So we are here to commemorate and to create awareness for more people to donate blood so that we can use that in an event where we have incidents of accidents or an emergency, there will be available blood,” she said.

Ms Suraju advised people to take balanced diets in order to have sufficient blood to donate. 

(NAN)