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ETHIOPIA · AFRICA

Is there a bone marrow registry in Ethiopia?

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

As of , we haven’t found a bone marrow donor registry that people who live in Ethiopia can join. That doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Ethiopians who need a stem cell transplant must go abroad for it, a 2023 review by two Addis Ababa doctors said, though Ethiopia’s national roadmap aims to set up transplant centers by 2029. 11

No verified way to join yetHow we check
Ethiopia at a glance
PlaceEthiopia (ኢትዮጵያ) 12
RegionEastern Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Africa 8
PopulationAbout 128.7 million (2023) 9
RegistryNone found as of 6 7
World donor searchNo organization based in Ethiopia lists adult donors or cord blood units in WMDA’s Search & Match (). 7
TransplantsMost blood cancers in Ethiopia are treated at tertiary hospitals, among which Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital in Addis Ababa was the first to treat every kind of blood disorder and runs an adult hematology fellowship, a 2023 review said; it described no transplant service in Ethiopia. 11
Where we looked10 places, in English and Amharic
Checked
Next check

What we found in Ethiopia

Ethiopian patients travel abroad for stem cell transplants, a 2023 review said. 11

WhereLanguageFindingDate
World Marrow Donor AssociationEnglishOn Oct 11, 2026, WMDA’s map of member registries showed none based in Ethiopia, and no organization based in Ethiopia listed donor records in WMDA’s Search & Match. 6 7
Ethiopian Blood and Tissue Bank ServiceEnglishOn Oct 16, 2026, the website of the Ethiopian Blood and Tissue Bank Service still showed only a placeholder, “Welcome to your Strapi app”, with no information about donors. 4
Ministry of Health, EthiopiaEnglishOn Oct 16, 2026, searches of the Ethiopian Ministry of Health’s site for “bone marrow” and for “transplant” both answered “Your search yielded no results.” 3 5
7 more searches with nothing to add
  • World Marrow Donor Association English · 2 searches,
  • Ministry of Health, Ethiopia English and Amharic · 2 searches,
  • Web search English and Amharic · 2 searches,
  • Another page we read English ·

We couldn’t open the website of Ethiopian Blood and Tissue Bank Service when we tried on Oct 11, 2026. That tells us nothing about whether it offers a way to join.

We couldn’t open Lyfboat’s website when we tried on Oct 11, 2026.

Can people in Ethiopia join a registry abroad?

South Africa’s two registries don’t sign up people living in Ethiopia: on Oct 16, 2026, SABMR’s rules still excluded anyone not living in South Africa, and DKMS Africa’s form for other nationals was only for people who have lived in South Africa for more than 18 months. 1 2

Has Ethiopia announced a registry or a law?

Ethiopia’s National Specialty and Subspecialty Roadmap for 2020 to 2029 lists stem cell transplant centers among the services to set up, and a 2023 review argued that a registry of unrelated stem cell donors would need to be established alongside them. 11

Questions about Ethiopia

Are bone marrow or stem cell transplants done in Ethiopia?

Most blood cancers in Ethiopia are treated at tertiary hospitals, among which Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital in Addis Ababa was the first to treat every kind of blood disorder and runs an adult hematology fellowship, a 2023 review said; it described no transplant service in Ethiopia. 11

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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.”

Sources

How we check

Checked , unless a source says otherwise.

Registries

  1. SABMR. Donor Exclusion Criteria - SABMR.
  2. DKMS Africa. Blood stem cell registration form for non-sa citizens.

Official bodies

  1. Ministry of Health, Ethiopia. Search for bone marrow / አጥንት መቅኔ | MOH.
  2. Ethiopian Blood and Tissue Bank Service. Welcome to your Strapi app. Tried ; we couldn’t open it
  3. Ministry of Health, Ethiopia. Search for transplant | MOH. Checked

Figures and lists

  1. World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA). Find your registry.
  2. WMDA. WMDA Total Number of Donors and Cord blood units.
  3. United Nations Statistics Division. Standard country or area codes for statistical use (M49): Overview (English table).
  4. UN DESA Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024: Total population by sex (CSV).

Other sources

  1. Lyfboat. Attention Required! | Cloudflare. Tried ; we couldn’t open it
  2. Biologics: Targets and Therapy (Dove Medical Press). Why and How Should Ethiopia Establish a Stem Cell Transplant Service? A Review Article (Mekonnen and Farris). Updated Mar 20, 2023. Checked
  3. Unicode CLDR. By-Type Chart: Locale Display Names:Territories (Africa). Checked