World Blood Donor Day is being observed today (Sunday).

This year's campaign, “One Drop of Humanity. Give Blood. Save Lives.”, places humanity at the heart of every blood donation.

The day is aimed at raising awareness of the need for safe blood and blood products and to thank voluntary, unpaid blood donors for their life-saving gifts of blood.

The World Health Organization has urged people across Pakistan to donate blood voluntarily.

In a statement on the World Blood Donor Day, the UN body warned that the country faces an annual shortage of 2.3 million blood donations.

The WHO said Pakistan needs more than five million blood donations each year but currently receives only around 2.7 million, with voluntary and unpaid donations accounting for just 18 percent of the total.

The WHO Representative in Pakistan Dr Luo Dapeng urged greater public participation to help meet the country's growing healthcare needs.