India fell short of 1.9 million units of blood in 2016-17–equivalent to 60 tankers–that could have aided more than 320,000 heart surgeries or 49,000 organ transplants, according to official data.This is an increase from a shortage of 1.1 million units or 35 tankers in 2015-16, when India had fallen 9% short of its 12 million target, as IndiaSpend had reported on September 3, 2016.India collected 11.1 million units of blood in 2016-17, meeting 85% of its 13 million units target based on World Health Organization (WHO) norms, according to a recent reply by Anupriya Patel, junior minister for health, to a parliamentary question.The World Blood Donor Day is celebrated on June 14 every year.About 112 million blood donations are collected worldwide every year, 50% of which are donated in low- and middle-income countries where around 80% of the world’s population lives, according to the WHO.The WHO recommends that the blood requirement of 1% of a country’s population be used as a ballpark estimate of its blood needs.By this measure, India was short of 1.9 million units of blood, data presented to the Lok Sabha (lower house of parliament) on March 23, 2018, show.This would be equivalent to 60 tankers, considering one unit of blood as 350 milliliters (ml) and one standard tanker-truck to contain 11,000 liters.