Roberts N, et al. - In order to understand the gaps in transfusion services globally, researchers estimated the blood transfusion demand and supply at the national level, via this modelling study including 195 countries and territories. They estimated blood availability for 180 (92%) of 195 countries by using blood component preparation data from 2011–13 from the WHO Global Status Report on Blood Safety and Availability. In 2017, the global blood need and the global blood supply were estimated to be 304,711,244 (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 293 064 637–314 049 479) and 272,270,243 (268 002 639–276 698 494) blood product units, respectively, with a need-to-supply ratio of 1·12 (95% UI 1·07–1·16). Findings revealed a large gap between need and supply in many low-income and middle-income countries. The data strengthened that the WHO target of 10–20 donations per 1000 population is an underestimate for many countries. On a global level, there is a requirement for continuous expansion and optimisation of national transfusion services and implementation of evidence-based strategies for blood availability. The findings also highlight the necessity of more government support, financially, structurally, and via establishment of a regulatory oversight to guarantee supply, quality, and safety in low-income and middle-income countries.