The national coordinator of the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS), Dr Omale Joseph Amedu, says Nigeria needs about 2 million units of blood annually.

Speaking in Abuja during the commemoration of this year's World Blood Donor Day, he called for voluntary blood donation among Nigerians.

According to him, out of the 500,000 units of blood donated annually in the country, 95 percent comes from commercial donors.

The Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, said less than 5 percent of all blood donations in the country came from voluntary unpaid donors.

He said every country must have a strong base of voluntary unpaid donors to ensure that everyone who needs safe blood has access to it.

He urged health workers and health institutions to align with the NBTS' mandate to help the agency achieve the 1 percent estimated blood need target as recommended by the World Health Organisation.

WHO Country Representative for Nigeria, Walter Kazadi Mulombo, said over the past year, blood stocks decreased in the African Region as movement restrictions and fears of infection hindered people from accessing donation sites.