• 467k units collected in 2025, 1 m lives saved 

The Director of the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS), Dr Lakshman Edirisinghe said yesterday (10) that Sri Lanka continues to meet its total national blood requirement through voluntary blood donations, with nearly 467,000 units collected last year (2025), helping to save the lives of more than one million patients.

Addressing the media, Dr Edirisinghe said  the country requires around 1,400 to 1,500 units of blood and 700 to 750 units of platelets every day, which are carefully managed by forecasting on a weekly basis and coordination with blood donation centres across the country. He said the system is planned in advance by analysing weekly statistics and estimating the future demand, after which blood donation organisers are informed of the required collections. “We manage our blood stocks in a very planned and systematic way. Based on a weekly analysis, we calculate the national requirement and inform our organisers accordingly,” he said. Dr Edirisinghe said that red blood cells can be stored for around 30 days, while platelets can only be stored for about seven days, making continuous donation essential.

He noted that when the country faced a major national emergency linked to adverse weather conditions last year, the public response to an appeal for blood donations was overwhelming, with more than 20,000 units collected within two days, far exceeding the immediate requirement.

The World Blood Donor Day 2026 will be marked on 14 June under the theme “One Drop of Humanity: Give Your Blood, Save Lives.” A national blood donation appreciation ceremony will also be held at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall on the same day.