BENIN · AFRICA
Is there a bone marrow registry in Benin?
For people who live in Benin. Live somewhere else? Find your country.
As of , we haven’t found a bone marrow donor registry that people who live in Benin can join. That doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Benin’s health minister announced in October 2024 that a sickle cell treatment center offering transplants would soon be built in Benin, with the Claudine Talon Foundation’s support. 8
| Place | Benin (Bénin) 19 |
|---|---|
| Region | Western Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Africa 15 |
| Population | About 14.1 million (2023) 16 |
| Registry | None found as of 13 14 |
| World donor search | No organization based in Benin lists adult donors or cord blood units in WMDA’s Search & Match (). 14 |
| Transplants | Dr Bienvenu Houssou, a hematologist at the CNHU Hubert Koutoucou Maga in Cotonou, told AlloDocteurs Africa in June 2020 that a marrow transplant from a compatible relative is a demanding operation, with budgets of up to 600 million CFA francs and anti-rejection drugs afterward. We haven’t found a stem cell transplant done in Benin. That doesn’t mean there isn’t one. 17 |
| Where we looked | 11 places, in English and French |
| Checked | |
| Next check |
What we found in Benin
Benin’s health ministry site had nothing on marrow. 9
| Where | Language | Finding | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Marrow Donor Association | English | On Oct 11, 2026, WMDA’s map of member registries showed none based in Benin, and no organization based in Benin listed donor records in WMDA’s Search & Match. 13 14 | |
| Ministère de la Santé, Bénin | French | On Oct 11, 2026, the homepage of Benin’s Ministry of Health had nothing on marrow, stem cells or a registry. 9 | |
| Web search | French | A French web search on Oct 16, 2026 found no marrow transplant done in Benin; AlloDocteurs Africa had reported in June 2020 that nearly 60% of patients in the blood diseases department of Cotonou’s CNHU Hubert Koutoucou Maga have sickle cell disease. 17 | |
| Secrétariat général du Gouvernement, Bénin | French | On Oct 16, 2026 we read Benin’s Decree 2019-136, adopted by the Council of Ministers on May 15, 2019: the Agence Nationale pour la Transfusion Sanguine, based in Cotonou, collects, tests and distributes blood products, and its statutes say nothing about marrow or stem cell donors. 10 | |
7 more searches with nothing to add
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Can people in Benin join a registry abroad?
France’s registry, checked on Oct 11, 2026, takes people living abroad only if they plan to move back to France, and they must give a French address for the saliva kit, so people who live in Benin can’t join it. 2
South Africa’s two registries take only people who live in South Africa: on Oct 11, 2026, DKMS Africa’s form asked first whether you live there, and SABMR excluded anyone not living there, so people in Benin can’t join either from home. 6 7
Are stem cell transplants done in Benin?
Under Benin’s Decree 2019-459 of Oct 16, 2019, a patient whose condition can’t be treated in Benin, for lack of specialists or equipment in public hospitals, may be evacuated abroad at the state’s expense, within the budget set aside for evacuations. 12
Bénin Web TV reported that on July 12, 2023 health minister Benjamin Hounkpatin told lawmakers Benin’s new evacuation system had cut the average cost of medical evacuations abroad to about 1.6 billion CFA francs, from 12 billion a year, while the Centre Hospitalier International de Calavi was built to limit them. 18
Has Benin announced a registry or a law?
At the 19th International Sickle Cell Congress, held at the Palais des Congrès in Cotonou from Oct 9, 2024, Benin’s health minister, Benjamin Hounkpatin, said a high-standard center for sickle cell care and study, including transplants, would soon be built with the Claudine Talon Foundation. We haven’t seen it open yet. 8
Know of a registry in Benin?
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The link preview says: “No verified way to join yet. That doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Here’s what we checked.”
Registries
- Agence de la biomédecine (France). Inscrivez-vous en 3 étapes.
- Agence de la biomédecine (France). FAQ - Thématique : S'inscrire et donner.
- Agence de la biomédecine (France). Essential information in English.
- NMDP. Cooperative Registries.
- DKMS (US). DKMS Extends International Footprint with South African Partnership. Updated Aug 2, 2020.
- DKMS Africa (DKMS Foundation NPC). Register as a potential donor.
- South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR). Donor Exclusion Criteria.
- Gouvernement de la République du Bénin. Congrès international sur la drépanocytose : Des partages d'expériences et des réflexions approfondies pour venir à bout de la maladie. Updated Oct 9, 2024. Checked
Official bodies
- Ministère de la Santé, Bénin. Accueil - Ministère de la Santé.
- Secrétariat général du Gouvernement, Bénin. Décret n° 2019-136 du 15 mai 2019 portant approbation des statuts de l'Agence nationale pour la transfusion sanguine. Updated May 15, 2019. Checked
- Ministère de la Santé, Bénin. Recherche « greffe ». Checked
- Secrétariat général du Gouvernement, Bénin. Décret n° 2019-459 du 16 octobre 2019 portant réglementation des évacuations sanitaires à la charge de l'État. Updated Oct 16, 2019. Checked
Figures and lists
- World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA). Find your registry.
- WMDA. WMDA Total Number of Donors and Cord blood units.
- United Nations Statistics Division. Standard country or area codes for statistical use (M49): Overview (English table).
- UN DESA Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024: Total population by sex (CSV).
Other sources
- AlloDocteurs Africa. Drépanocytose : au Bénin, "il y a des vaccins obligatoires pour les malades". Updated Jun 20, 2020. Checked
- Bénin Web TV. Bénin: bilan des évacuations sanitaires sur les 4 dernières années. Updated Jul 14, 2023. Checked
- Unicode CLDR. By-Type Chart: Locale Display Names:Territories (Africa). Checked