National Blood Center

What National Blood Center does

The National Blood Center (NBC) — formally the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) — is the sole nationally coordinated blood transfusion service of Sri Lanka, operating under the Ministry of Health as a government state entity. Founded in 1959 in the wake of Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike's assassination, it has evolved from a single room blood bank at General Hospital Colombo into a centrally coordinated network of 108 hospital-based blood banks affiliated to 24 cluster centers, collecting more than 450,000 blood units annually from voluntary non-remunerated donors (100% VNRBD achieved in 2014). Approximately 5,000 mobile blood donation campaigns are conducted each year, accounting for 85% of collection volume.

NBTS supplies blood and blood components free at point of service to all government hospitals and most private hospitals in Sri Lanka. Its core technology platform centres on the proprietary Blood Bank Management System (BBMS) — developed and donated by Dr. Pushpike De Silva and deployed network-wide in May 2020 — which handles more than 450,000 donations per year from collection to patient issuance. Supporting systems include DHIS2-based monthly statistics reporting and weekly haemovigilance reporting, a daily stock monitoring system, the SWASTHA inventory management system, and the Raktha mobile appointment application. The organisation also operates the Praana national stem cell donor registry (rebranded October 2024), the ETRU education/training unit, and the SL-NEQAS quality assessment scheme, and is a WHO Collaborating Centre for Blood Transfusion Services (2018, redesignated 2024).

The business model is that of a publicly funded health service: NBTS does not charge patients or hospitals for blood products, and operates entirely on Ministry of Health budget allocations. There is no commercial revenue, no venture capital or private equity involvement, and no equity ownership outside the Sri Lankan government. Go-to-market is a hybrid direct-to-government (hospital-based distribution) and direct-to-consumer (mobile collection campaigns, the Raktha app) model. The organisation has accumulated multiple international recognitions, including ISO 15189:2022 (SLAB), AABB Quality Certificate (2024-2026), and the ISBT Award for Best Transfusion Service among developing countries (2012).

Name

National Blood Center

Legal name

National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS), Sri Lanka

Website

https://nbts.health.gov.lk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1959

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The National Blood Center (NBTS) is the sole nationally coordinated blood transfusion service of Sri Lanka, operating 108 hospital-based blood banks across 24 cluster centers and collecting more than 450,000 voluntary blood units annually for free distribution to all government and most private hospitals under the Ministry of Health.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Colombo, Western Province

HQ country

Sri Lanka

HQ region

Asia

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Public Health Service Funding: NBTS is a government service under the Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka. It is funded by public health budgets and does not charge patients for blood and blood products. It serves as the sole provider of blood and blood products to all government hospitals and most private hospitals free of charge at point of service.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) Sri Lanka is the sole nationally coordinated provider of blood and blood products, supplying all government hospitals and most private hospitals through 108 hospital-based blood banks organized under 24 cluster centers. It collects more than 450,000 blood units annually from 100% voluntary non-remunerated donors via fixed blood banks and approximately 5,000 mobile blood donation campaigns per year. It also provides transfusion-transmitted infection testing, haemovigilance monitoring, blood component production, the Praana stem cell donor registry, and the SL-NEQAS external quality assessment program.

Product overview

National Blood Center (NBC) and the National Blood Transfusion Service (NBTS) Sri Lanka operates a centrally coordinated national blood transfusion system as a special campaign under the Ministry of Health. The service functions both as a healthcare provider delivering blood and blood components and as a technology-enabled organization operating multiple health information systems. The core product portfolio includes: the Blood Bank Management System (BBMS) for managing the donation process; DHIS2-based Monthly Statistics Reporting and Weekly Haemovigilance systems for data collection; Daily Stock Monitoring and SWASTHA systems for inventory management; the Raktha App for donor appointments; and the Praana stem cell donor registry. Healthcare services include blood collection (450,000+ units annually), blood component production, haemovigilance monitoring, and the SL-NEQAS quality assessment program. NBTS also serves as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Blood Transfusion Services, contributing to regional capacity building.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Raktha: Online appointment system for blood donors to book a date and time prior to visiting a blood bank for donation.

Products and services

• Blood and Blood Components Supply Supply of quality-assured blood and blood components to all government hospitals and most private hospitals across Sri Lanka, free of charge at point of service. Operated through 108 hospital-based blood banks organized under 24 cluster centers.
• Blood Collection Services Annual collection of more than 450,000 blood units from voluntary non-remunerated blood donors across Sri Lanka, conducted via 108 fixed blood banks and approximately 5,000 mobile blood donation campaigns.
• Blood Bank Management System (BBMS) A comprehensive health information system developed and donated by Dr. Pushpike De Silva, handling more than 450,000 donations per year and managing the entire blood donation process from collection to patient issuance. Deployed across the NBTS network since May 2020.
• Raktha Mobile Appointment Application Online appointment system allowing blood donors to book a date and time for donation at a nearest blood bank. Available on Google Playstore and via the Raktha website (raktha.nbts.health.gov.lk).
• Education, Training and Research Unit (ETRU) Unit at the National Blood Center that enhances knowledge, skills, and professional competencies of blood bank personnel through in-service training, CME programs, and orientation programs for undergraduate and postgraduate students.
• National Haemovigilance System National haemovigilance system maintained by the National Haemovigilance Unit at NBC, monitoring donor-related, process-related, and recipient-related adverse events as well as near-miss events from all blood banks island-wide.
• SL-NEQAS Blood Group Serology Quality Assessment Program Sri Lanka National External Quality Assessment Scheme conducted by the Quality Control Laboratory at NBC, ensuring accuracy in blood grouping serology testing with two testing cycles per year.
• Praana (Sri Lanka Stem Cell Donor Registry) A nationwide registry to recruit potential stem cell donors, providing donor matching for patients with blood disorders and cancers needing stem cell transplants. Operated under NBTS at praana.lk.
• WHO Collaborating Centre for Blood Transfusion Services NBTS serves as a WHO Collaborating Centre, providing member states support in blood policy guidance, capacity building, and development of promotional materials for voluntary non-remunerated donations. Designated 2018, redesignated 2024.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% voluntary, non-remunerated blood donation achieved in 2014, with 450,000+ blood units collected annually
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature7 records

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Haemonetics Corporation: Global supplier of blood component collection and processing equipment plus software used in transfusion medicine. Broad incumbent providing the physical collection sets, apheresis devices, and hospital-side software that NBTS uses operationally across its 108-bank network.

Emerging players

• WellSky Blood Bank & Transfusion: Vend a widely deployed blood bank management information system used by US hospital transfusion services. Overlaps with NBTS's proprietary BBMS in the Blood Bank Management System category and represents a competitive commercialisation pathway for NBTS's internally developed system.

Direct peers

• Canadian Blood Services: National blood operator managing collection, manufacturing, and hospital distribution across Canada outside Quebec. Closely comparable in mandate, scale (millions of units annually), and the integration of stem cell registry and haemovigilance functions NBTS has built out via Praana.
• American Red Cross Blood Services: Largest single blood collector in the US, supplying approximately 40% of the nation's blood supply. Direct peer in operating voluntary donor networks, mobile collection drives, hospital distribution, and haemovigilance at national scale.
• Australian Red Cross Lifeblood: Australia's national blood service collecting over 1.5 million donations annually from voluntary non-remunerated donors. Direct peer with the same 100% VNRBD mandate, component production, and hospital distribution model that NBTS aspires to and has achieved at smaller scale.
• NHS Blood and Transplant: UK's national blood and organ service collecting and supplying blood components to all NHS hospitals. Direct peer operating the same model of centrally coordinated national blood collection, processing, and hospital distribution, with comparable haemovigilance and quality functions.
• South African National Blood Service: South Africa's national blood collector serving most provinces with voluntary donor programmes and component supply to hospitals. Most relevant peer for an upper-middle-income developing-country context with comparable VNRBD targets and infrastructure constraints.

Regional players

• Kenya National Blood Transfusion Service: Kenya's national blood service operating regional blood centres with WHO support. Comparable lower-income developing-country blood service with similar mandate and reliance on WHO technical assistance; relevant peer for benchmarking operational models in resource-constrained environments.
• Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service: Operates the sole blood collection service for Hong Kong with 100% voluntary donation. Comparable small-territory national blood operator with similar high voluntary-donor ratios and full component-supply mandate to government hospitals.
• National Blood Centre, Thai Red Cross Society: Thailand's national blood service supplying most of the country's blood needs from voluntary donors. Comparable Asian developing-country peer operating a centralised national service with hospital-based collection and component production at much larger scale than NBTS.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@nationalbloodtransfusionse6740
• Facebookweb.facebook.com/nbts.srilanka
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/national-blood-center

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about National Blood Center