COOK ISLANDS · OCEANIA
Is there a bone marrow registry in the Cook Islands?
For people who live in the Cook Islands. Live somewhere else? Find your place.
As of , we haven’t found a bone marrow donor registry that people who live in the Cook Islands can join. That doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Te Marae Ora’s Patient Referral Policy 2026 refers eligible Cook Islands patients from the Pa Enua to Rarotonga, or to a public hospital or private clinic in Auckland, New Zealand; Cook Islanders living permanently overseas aren’t covered. 5
Browsing from another country? See how joining works where you live.
| Place | Cook Islands |
|---|---|
| Region | Polynesia, Oceania 11 |
| Population | About 14,200 (2023) 12 |
| Transplants | We haven’t found a stem cell transplant service in the Cook Islands. That doesn’t mean there isn’t one. A search of Te Marae Ora’s website for ‘stem cell’ on Oct 11, 2026 found only a 2020 air ambulance transfer of a very sick patient to Auckland. 8 |
| Where we looked | 7 places, in English and Rarotongan |
| Checked | |
| Next check |
A bone marrow donor registry is also called a stem cell or blood stem cell donor registry.
Why don’t you link to a registry in the Cook Islands yet?
What we found in the Cook Islands
We looked in 7 places, in English and Rarotongan, for a registry that signs up people who live in the Cook Islands.
Cook Islanders are NZ citizens, but NZ’s registry hasn’t said they can join from home. 1 6
| Where we looked | Language | What we found | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| The World Marrow Donor Association’s lists | English | The World Marrow Donor Association’s member map listed no organization based in the Cook Islands when we checked it on Oct 11, 2026. 10 | |
| Te Marae Ora’s website | English | A search of the website of Te Marae Ora, the Cook Islands Ministry of Health, for ‘bone marrow’ on Oct 11, 2026 found nothing. 7 | |
| Te Marae Ora’s website | English | A search of Te Marae Ora’s website for ‘referral’ on Oct 11, 2026 found the Cook Islands Patient Referral Policy 2026, which the Cook Islands Cabinet approved on July 7, 2026. 5 9 | |
| A web search | English | A Cook Islands Māori web search on Oct 11, 2026 found no result in that language; Cook Islands News reported in October 2020 that the health ministry and the Cook Islands Red Cross Society held a blood drive, with nothing on marrow donors. 13 | |
3 more searches, Oct 11 to 15, 2026, in English: nothing to add
| |||
Can people in the Cook Islands join a registry abroad?
What you can do today
- Live somewhere else most of the year? Find the registry where you live
- A patient or family member? Ask the treating hospital whether it can search registries abroad. Help someone who needs a donor
Questions about the Cook Islands
Are bone marrow or stem cell transplants done in the Cook Islands?
We haven’t found a stem cell transplant service in the Cook Islands. That doesn’t mean there isn’t one. A search of Te Marae Ora’s website for ‘stem cell’ on Oct 11, 2026 found only a 2020 air ambulance transfer of a very sick patient to Auckland. 8
Questions about donating itself have their own pages: Does it hurt?, How donation works and Recovery.
KNOW SOMETHING WE DON’T?
Know of a registry in the Cook Islands?
Tell us its name. If we can verify it, this page will say so, with the date.
Download the card
When you share this page, its preview says: “No verified way to join yet. That doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Here’s what we checked.”
The registries’ own pages
- New Zealand Bone Marrow Donor Registry (NZ Blood Service). How to join.
- New Zealand Bone Marrow Donor Registry (NZ Blood Service). FAQs.Checked
- New Zealand Bone Marrow Donor Registry (NZ Blood Service). Swab kits.
- New Zealand Bone Marrow Donor Registry (NZ Blood Service). Who can join.
Government and official registers
- Te Marae Ora Cook Islands Ministry of Health. Fact Sheet: Patient Referral Policy 2026 (page and linked PDF).
- New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. Cook Islands.
- Te Marae Ora. Site search 'bone marrow'.
- Te Marae Ora. Site search 'stem cell'.
- Te Marae Ora. Site search 'referral'.
The World Marrow Donor Association and other figures
- World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA). Find your registry.
- 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).
Research and other sources
- Cook Islands News. Blood drive adds more to local donor list. Updated Oct 22, 2020.