CHILE · DKMS CHILE
Become a bone marrow donor in Chile
For people who live in Chile. Live somewhere else? Find your country.
If you live in Chile, you can join DKMS Chile from age 18 to 55. In Chile, DKMS Chile is the way to join that we found: people who live in Chile fill in an online form and receive a free home kit of three cheek swabs. 1 2 Checked .
| Region | South America, Latin America and the Caribbean, Americas 9 |
|---|---|
| Population | About 19.7 million (2023) 10 |
| Registry | DKMS Chile (Fundación de Beneficencia Pública DKMS) 3 4 |
| Who can join | Ages 18 to 55, listed until your 61st birthdayDKMS Chile’s rule is about where you live, not citizenship: you must live in Chile. 2 |
| How you sign up | DKMS Chile sends the kit the next day, and it should arrive within three weeks. The kit goes back free by Correos de Chile, Chilexpress or a DKMS drop box, and the swabs are analyzed in Germany, which takes four to six weeks. 2 4 |
| Cost | DKMS Chile says registering is completely free: the kit, its shipping and the analysis are all paid for. 5 |
| Transplants | DKMS Chile says that, by the European Society for Blood and Marrow Transplantation’s measure, Chile should do 300 to 500 stem cell transplants a year for every 10 million people, but does 125. 6 |
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Bone marrow registries are also called stem cell registries.
Who runs the bone marrow donor registry in Chile?
DKMS Chile signs up people who live in Chile. It is run by Fundación de Beneficencia Pública DKMS, a nonprofit organization.
DKMS Chile is the registry that signs up adult donors in Chile: in Apr 2019, Chilevisión reported it as the country’s only registry of potential blood stem cell donors, quoting the Undersecretary of Public Health in support. 11
DKMS Chile mails free swab kits to people who live in Chile. 2
How do I join in Chile?
DKMS Chile’s kit drop boxes are in Farmacias Cruz Verde, Homecenter Sodimac, Cinemark and Simmedical locations, among others; boxes in Santiago are emptied every two weeks and those in other regions once a month. 4
DKMS Chile
Run by Fundación de Beneficencia Pública DKMS, a nonprofit organization.
18–55years old to join
- Who it’s for
- People who live in Chile, aged 18 to 55.
- Language
- Spanish
Why this one first Open to people in Chile from 18 to 55: register online and a home swab kit comes by post.
Who can join in Chile?
DKMS Chile takes people aged 18 to 55 with a body mass index under 40, and keeps volunteers on the registry until age 61. 2
Chile and the world’s donor search
DKMS Chile says more than 280,000 people in Chile have registered. 1
DKMS Chile says that since it arrived in Chile in 2018, a Chilean patient’s chance of finding a matching donor from Chile has risen from 30% to 50%. 6 7
On Oct 6, 2026, WMDA’s Search & Match listed 362,981 adult donor records from Fundación de Beneficencia Pública DKMS, the legal name of DKMS Chile. 8
Are stem cell transplants done in Chile?
Since 2018, DKMS Chile has done a set number of HLA tests free of charge for Chile’s health system, so doctors can quickly check for a family match, and since 2021 it has paid part of the transplant costs of patients without adequate insurance. 6
What happens after I join?
If you match a patient, DKMS Chile arranges the donation at one of four centers in the Santiago Metropolitan Region: its own collection center in Providencia, Hospital Clínico UC, FALP or Clínica Dávila. DKMS Chile organizes and pays for the trip if you live in another region. 5
DKMS Chile built its own blood stem cell collection center for apheresis donations on the second floor of Av. Andrés Bello 2115 in Providencia, Santiago, with rooms for everything from the medical checkup to the donation itself. 7
Questions about joining in Chile
Can I join if I’m not a citizen of Chile?
DKMS Chile’s rule is about where you live, not citizenship: you must live in Chile. 2
How do I sign up in Chile: online, by kit or in person?
DKMS Chile sends the kit the next day, and it should arrive within three weeks. The kit goes back free by Correos de Chile, Chilexpress or a DKMS drop box, and the swabs are analyzed in Germany, which takes four to six weeks. 2 4
Does it cost anything to join in Chile?
DKMS Chile says registering is completely free: the kit, its shipping and the analysis are all paid for. 5
How old do you have to be to join DKMS Chile?
DKMS Chile signs up people aged 18 to 55. It keeps you listed until your 61st birthday. 2
Is DKMS Chile part of the international donor search?
Yes. DKMS Chile is a member of the World Marrow Donor Association.
About donating: Does it hurt?, How donation works and Recovery.
Registries
- Fundación de Beneficencia Pública DKMS (DKMS Chile). Regístrate como donante.
- DKMS Chile. Regístrate como donante de células madre sanguíneas.
- DKMS Chile. Nota Legal.
- DKMS Chile. Enviar tu kit DKMS: opciones y buzones.
- DKMS Chile. Preguntas frecuentes sobre DKMS.
- DKMS Chile. Acceso a Trasplante. Checked
- DKMS Chile. Centro de Recolección DKMS Chile. Checked
Figures and lists
- 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).