WHO unveils 2026 Blood Donor Day slogan, NBSA urges more voluntary donations

The Director General of the National Blood Service Agency, NBSA, Prof. Saleh Yuguda, has announced the official slogan for the 2026 World Blood Donor Day, WBDD, campaign as unveiled by the World Health Organisation, WHO.

The slogan for this year’s global campaign is: “One Drop of Humanity. Give Blood. Save Lives.”

Prof. Yuguda, while conveying the message to stakeholders and partners in the blood transfusion sector, extended compliments of the season and urged greater commitment towards promoting voluntary blood donation across the country.

According to him, the campaign seeks to reinforce global efforts aimed at ensuring a safe, sustainable and adequate blood supply through regular voluntary donations.

He stated that the objectives of the 2026 World Blood Donor Day campaign include driving sustained growth in regular, voluntary and unpaid blood donation worldwide, while raising awareness about the life-saving impact of blood and plasma donation.

The NBSA boss further noted that the campaign is designed to highlight the invaluable contributions of blood donors and promote the enduring values of solidarity, compassion and humanity that underpin blood donation.

He added that the initiative would also encourage governments, development partners and relevant stakeholders to strengthen and invest in national blood programmes in order to achieve universal access to safe blood transfusion services.

Prof. Yuguda disclosed that a major focus of this year’s commemoration would be community integration and grassroots engagement, with the agency taking the blood donation advocacy campaign beyond health institutions and into communities across the country.

According to him, traditional institutions, community leaders, youth groups, faith-based organisations and local stakeholders would be actively engaged to domesticate the message of voluntary blood donation at the grassroots level and foster a stronger culture of community ownership of blood services.

He stressed that the community-based approach is aimed at deepening public understanding of the importance of blood donation, dispelling misconceptions surrounding the practice, and building sustainable donor pools capable of supporting national blood needs.

World Blood Donor Day, commemorated annually on June 14, serves as a global platform to recognise voluntary blood donors and advocate for strengthened blood systems capable of meeting the transfusion needs of patients in emergencies, maternal healthcare, surgeries and the treatment of various medical conditions.

The 2026 campaign is expected to mobilise governments, healthcare institutions, civil society organisations and citizens around the world to embrace blood donation as a humanitarian act capable of saving millions of lives, while strengthening community participation in the quest for universal access to safe blood transfusion services.