CUBA · AMERICAS
Is there a bone marrow registry in Cuba?
For people who live in Cuba. Live somewhere else? Find your country.
As of , we haven’t found a bone marrow donor registry that people who live in Cuba can join. That doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Transplant teams here can search registries abroad for a patient. Cuba's Institute of Hematology and Immunology has done stem cell transplants in Havana since 1985 and proposed a donor registry in 2017. 1 9
| Region | Caribbean, Latin America and the Caribbean, Americas 5 |
|---|---|
| Population | About 11 million (2023) 6 |
| Registry | None found as of 4 |
| World donor search | No organization based in Cuba lists adult donors or cord blood units in WMDA’s Search & Match (). 8 |
| Transplants | Cuba’s first stem cell transplant was done at the IHI in 1985, using cells from a donor, and the IHI runs a stem cell transplant service, a 2025 paper by its doctors says. 2 9 |
| Where we looked | 4 places, in English and Spanish |
| Checked | |
| Next check |
What we found in Cuba
Cuba’s IHI called for a national donor registry in 2017. 1
| Where | Language | Finding | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Marrow Donor Association | English | On Oct 11, 2026, no organization based in Cuba was on WMDA’s member map or in its organization database. 4 7 | |
| Instituto de Hematología e Inmunología (IHI), Cuba — Infomed | Spanish | On Oct 11, 2026, the IHI’s website held a 2017 editorial proposing a national registry of unrelated donors and a cord blood bank, but no sign-up form, and its newest posts dated from April 2020. 1 2 | |
| Ministerio de Salud Pública de Cuba (MINSAP) | Spanish | On Oct 11, 2026, the homepage of Cuba’s Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) had nothing about marrow donation or a donor registry. 3 | |
| Web search | Spanish | A 2025 paper by IHI doctors, found on Oct 11, 2026, reported 63 children given stem cell transplants at the IHI from 1987 to 2018, 63.5% of them with cells from a donor rather than their own. 9 |
Has Cuba announced a registry or a law?
In 2017, Cuba’s IHI wrote that the Ministry of Public Health and the institute were working to create a cord blood bank and to set up a national registry of unrelated stem cell donors. 1
Questions about Cuba
Are bone marrow or stem cell transplants done in Cuba?
Cuba’s first stem cell transplant was done at the IHI in 1985, using cells from a donor, and the IHI runs a stem cell transplant service, a 2025 paper by its doctors says. 2 9
Can a hospital in Cuba search abroad for a donor?
A 2017 IHI editorial said Cuba’s Ministry of Public Health paid more than €80,000 to bring stem cells from an unrelated-donor registry abroad for one patient, and about €30,000 for one imported cord blood unit. 1
About donating: Does it hurt?, How donation works and Recovery.
Know of a registry in Cuba?
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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
- Instituto de Hematología e Inmunología (IHI), Cuba — Infomed. Trasplantes (includes editorial "Un registro de donantes de células progenitoras hematopoyéticas: necesidad del sistema de salud cubano").
- Instituto de Hematología e Inmunología (IHI), Cuba — Infomed. Instituto de Hematología e Inmunología (homepage).
Official bodies
- Ministerio de Salud Pública de Cuba (MINSAP). MINSAP homepage (+ sitemap index, which listed 0 page URLs).
Figures and lists
- 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).
- WMDA (Share, Organisation data public access). Database.
- WMDA. WMDA Total Number of Donors and Cord blood units.
Other sources
- Revista Cubana de Hematología, Inmunología y Hemoterapia (Infomed). Resultados del trasplante hematopoyético en pacientes pediátricos en el Instituto de Hematología e Inmunología (2025;41:e1855).