Tangerine helps bridge Nigeria’s 73% blood-supply shortfall

As Nigeria continues to grapple with a critical blood shortage, Tangerine Insurance has launched a blood donation campaign aimed at increasing voluntary donations and raising awareness of the urgent need for safe blood. The initiative comes amid reports that the country faces a 73 percent blood supply shortfall, underscoring the need for greater public participation and private sector support to help save lives. Kehinde Borishade, managing director and chief executive officer of Tangerine Life Insurance, speaking at the Annual Tangerine Blood Donor Drive, organised by Total Health Trust (THT) and Tangerine Insurance in partnership with the Lagos State Accident and Emergency Centre, said, “This event shows that our corporate social responsibility is effective. “Two years ago, I lost my son to leukemia. I donated my own bone marrow stem cells in an effort to save him. Unfortunately, he did not survive. I understand the importance of blood donation and what it means to families facing medical challenges.” The event brought together students, professionals and members of the public at the University of Lagos on Friday to donate blood and raise awareness about voluntary donation. On the expansion of the blood donor awareness drive, Borishade explained that Lagos is just the starting point being the head office of the organisation; he affirmed the firm will expand drive to other regions. “All Nigerians deserve good things, and to have good health facilities. An accident can happen anywhere. Everybody can need blood, anybody can need blood. “It’s a programme we will continue to expand. In fact, we partnered with Lagos State Ministry of Health to make sure that we meet all the health requirements of this programmes,” he said. He urged the audience at the event and all Nigerians to donate as much as possible in terms of their blood and goodwill to the programme. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Nigeria faces a critical blood shortage, collecting only about 500,000 pints of blood each year against an estimated annual demand of 1.8 million to 2.2 million units. The resulting shortfall of about 73 percent leaves many hospitals with dangerously low reserves, forcing patients and their families to rely on costly and sometimes unsafe commercial or family replacement donors instead of voluntary unpaid donations. Joy Gonji, head of commercial at Total Health Trust, described the programme as both a donation exercise and an awareness campaign. “We want people to understand why donating blood is important, not only during this event but throughout the year,” she said. Gonji expressed her delight that the drive has witnessed a successful campaign in the last five years, and emphasised that Total Health Trust is always ready to be part of the good work. “It’s something that we always look forward to because we understand the importance of it and we always look forward to any way to give back to society. And this is one of our key initiatives that we carry out every year. She revealed that the choice of the University of Lagos as the venue for the 2026 edition was a strategic decision because the students are the leaders of tomorrow. “If we can drive this awareness in them as they go out and spread into different professions, they also carry that gospel of the need for the blood donation. “We are just here because we believe that the students have a powerful voice both now and in the future to actually carry the message we want to delivered,” she said. Oyenekan Adeola, medical laboratory scientist at the Lagos State Accident and Emergency Centre said the impact of the blood donation awareness campaign has been significant. Besides, Adeola said 86 pints of blood were collected this year, and he noted that one pint can potentially help save up to three lives through different blood products. “The centre hopes to collect as many as 2,000 pints through ongoing campaigns and partnerships,” he said. According to the organisers of the Annual Tangerine Blood Donor Drive, the donated blood will support accident victims, mothers experiencing childbirth complications, surgical patients and other emergency cases across Lagos State.