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BAHAMAS · AMERICAS

Is there a bone marrow registry in the Bahamas?

For people who live in the Bahamas. Live somewhere else? Find your country.

As of , no bone marrow donor registry signs up people who live in the Bahamas. The Bahamas’ Ministry of Health and Wellness reported its first live-donor kidney transplants at Princess Margaret Hospital in June 2025; no marrow donor drive in the Bahamas has been reported. 3

No registry to joinHow we check
Bahamas at a glance
RegionCaribbean, Latin America and the Caribbean, Americas 7
PopulationAbout 399,000 (2023) 8
RegistryNone found as of 6
World donor searchNo organization based in the Bahamas lists adult donors or cord blood units in WMDA’s Search & Match (). 10
TransplantsThe Tribune reported in 2017 that a 12-year-old girl from New Providence with sickle cell anemia had a bone marrow transplant, with cells from her brother, at the Bone Marrow Centre of Holtz Children's Hospital in Miami, after her family settled a dispute with Colina Insurance over the $500,000 treatment. 11 12
Where we looked4 places, in English
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What we found in the Bahamas

No marrow donor registry or drive was found in the Bahamas. 3

WhereLanguageFindingDate
World Marrow Donor AssociationEnglishOn Oct 11, 2026, no organization based in the Bahamas was on WMDA’s member map or in its organization database. 6 9
Government of Saint Lucia — Ministry of Health, Wellness and Nutrition (GIS)EnglishOn Oct 11, 2026, a search found only blood drives in the Bahamas, from 2018 and 2022, and older regional notices from the Caribbean Bone Marrow Registry, such as its 2016 drive. 5
Ministry of Health and Wellness, The BahamasEnglishOn Oct 11, 2026, the Ministry of Health and Wellness homepage’s transplant news was about kidney transplants at Princess Margaret Hospital, with nothing on marrow or stem cell donation. 3
Public Hospitals Authority, The BahamasEnglishNothing to add

Can people in the Bahamas join a registry abroad?

People living in the Bahamas can’t join NMDP, which on Oct 15, 2026 signed up only residents of the U.S., its territories and freely associated states, and Gift of Life says it typically does not register donors from other countries. 1 2

Are stem cell transplants done in the Bahamas?

Princess Margaret Hospital was set to do the first living-donor kidney transplant under the Public Hospitals Authority's new Renal Transplant Programme in Jun 2025, with surgeons from Trinidad and Barbados, and the Bahamas' 2025/26 budget gave a National Organ Transplant Programme $1.59 million, the Tribune reported. 15

Has the Bahamas announced a registry or a law?

In Apr 2013 Prime Minister Perry Christie introduced a bill to regulate stem cell studies and treatments in the Bahamas, the Tribune reported, and in Apr 2024 health minister Dr Michael Darville introduced a Longevity and Regenerative Therapies Bill to replace that 2013 Act, Eye Witness News reported. 16 17

Questions about the Bahamas

Can a hospital in the Bahamas search abroad for a donor?

In Jul and Aug 2013 the Tribune reported that Miami Children's Hospital had begun looking for a bone marrow donor for a five-year-old girl from the Bahamas whose leukemia had returned, but would not go ahead with the transplant until her family showed it had the $500,000 it cost. 13 14

Ricardo Treco, the Bahamas' consul general in Miami, said in Dec 2013 that 35 to 50 Bahamian children a year stay at the Ronald McDonald House at the University of Miami's Jackson hospital complex while they are treated, the Tribune reported. 18

About donating: Does it hurt?, How donation works and Recovery.

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Sources

How we check

Checked , unless a source says otherwise.

Registries

  1. NMDP. Join the donor registry | NMDP (Formerly Be The Match).
  2. Gift of Life Marrow Registry. FAQ - Gift of Life.

Official bodies

  1. Ministry of Health and Wellness, The Bahamas. Ministry of Health and Wellness | Latest News Public Notices.
  2. Public Hospitals Authority, The Bahamas. PHA website. Unavailable when read
  3. Government of Saint Lucia — Ministry of Health, Wellness and Nutrition (GIS). Bone marrow donor drive. Updated Jun 15, 2016.

Figures and lists

  1. World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA). Find your registry.
  2. United Nations Statistics Division. Standard country or area codes for statistical use (M49): Overview (English table).
  3. UN DESA Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024: Total population by sex (CSV).
  4. WMDA (Share, Organisation data public access). Database.
  5. WMDA. WMDA Total Number of Donors and Cord blood units.

Other sources

  1. The Tribune. Girl denied insurance as she lay on hospital bed. Updated Mar 29, 2017. Checked
  2. The Tribune. Row over insurance coverage ends as girl is treated. Updated May 18, 2017. Checked
  3. The Tribune. Child needs $500,000 for a bone marrow transplant. Updated Jul 5, 2013. Checked
  4. The Tribune. Five-year-old girl still needs money for transplant. Updated Aug 9, 2013. Checked
  5. The Tribune. Dad donating Kidney to son in Bahamas' first living donor transplant. Updated Jun 18, 2025. Checked
  6. The Tribune. Stem cell research moves one step closer. Updated Apr 11, 2013. Checked
  7. Eye Witness News. Government moves to update stem cell research legislation. Updated Apr 18, 2024. Checked
  8. The Tribune. Bahamian's battle with bone cancer. Updated Dec 27, 2013. Checked