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CUBA · AMERICAS

Is there a bone marrow registry in Cuba?

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

As of , no bone marrow donor registry signs up people who live in Cuba. 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 11

No registry to joinHow we check
Cuba at a glance
RegionCaribbean, Latin America and the Caribbean, Americas 7
PopulationAbout 11 million (2023) 8
RegistryNone found as of 6
World donor searchNo organization based in Cuba lists adult donors or cord blood units in WMDA’s Search & Match (). 10
TransplantsCuba’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 11
Where we looked4 places, in English and Spanish
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What we found in Cuba

Cuba’s IHI called for a national donor registry in 2017. 1

WhereLanguageFindingDate
World Marrow Donor AssociationEnglishOn Oct 11, 2026, no organization based in Cuba was on WMDA’s member map or in its organization database. 6 9
Instituto de Hematología e Inmunología (IHI), Cuba — InfomedSpanishOn 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)SpanishOn Oct 11, 2026, the homepage of Cuba’s Ministry of Public Health (MINSAP) had nothing about marrow donation or a donor registry. 5
Web searchSpanishA 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. 11

Can people in Cuba join a registry abroad?

People living in Cuba 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. 3 4

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 11

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.

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The link preview says: “No registry to join. Here’s what is there instead.”

Sources

How we check

Checked , unless a source says otherwise.

Registries

  1. 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").
  2. Instituto de Hematología e Inmunología (IHI), Cuba — Infomed. Instituto de Hematología e Inmunología (homepage).
  3. NMDP. Join the donor registry | NMDP (Formerly Be The Match).
  4. Gift of Life Marrow Registry. FAQ - Gift of Life.

Official bodies

  1. Ministerio de Salud Pública de Cuba (MINSAP). MINSAP homepage (+ sitemap index, which listed 0 page URLs).

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. 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).