JAMAICA · AMERICAS
Is there a bone marrow registry in Jamaica?
For people who live in Jamaica. Live somewhere else? Find your country.
As of , we haven’t found a bone marrow donor registry that people who live in Jamaica can join. That doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Jamaica’s National Blood Transfusion Service covers blood donation only, with no stem cell or marrow donor sign-up on its site, and we found no marrow registry, drive or transplant program in Jamaica. 3
| Region | Caribbean, Latin America and the Caribbean, Americas 6 |
|---|---|
| Population | About 2.8 million (2023) 7 |
| Registry | None found as of 5 |
| World donor search | No organization based in Jamaica lists adult donors or cord blood units in WMDA’s Search & Match (). 9 |
| Transplants | Bone marrow transplants for sickle cell disease aren't available in Jamaica, Dr Lesley King of the University of the West Indies wrote in the Gleaner in Nov 2024, and the Jamaica Observer reported in Jul 2025 that the tissue typing that organ and stem cell transplants depend on is done overseas. 10 11 |
| Where we looked | 9 places, in English |
| Checked | |
| Next check |
What we found in Jamaica
Jamaica’s blood service covers blood only, with no marrow sign-up. 3
| Where | Language | Finding | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Marrow Donor Association | English | On Oct 11, 2026, no organization based in Jamaica was on WMDA’s member map or in its organization database. 5 8 | |
| University Hospital of the West Indies (Jamaica) | English | On Oct 11, 2026, the homepage of the University Hospital of the West Indies in Kingston, Jamaica, had nothing about marrow or stem cell donation, and the Ministry of Health and Wellness site was behind a bot check. 1 | |
| National Blood Transfusion Service, Jamaica (Government of Jamaica) | English | On Oct 11, 2026, the homepage of Jamaica’s National Blood Transfusion Service and the 15 addresses on its site map covered blood donation only. 3 | |
| Ministry of Health & Wellness, Jamaica | English | On Oct 15, 2026, the homepage of Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and Wellness, behind a bot check on Oct 11, loaded and had nothing about marrow or stem cell donation. 4 | |
| The Gleaner (Jamaica) | English | The Gleaner reported that the Florida-based Caribbean Bone Marrow Registry appealed for stem cell donors at a Nov 7, 2024 cancer lecture at Northern Caribbean University in Mandeville, Jamaica; on Oct 11, 2026, WMDA's organization database showed that registry as not listed in Search & Match. 8 13 | |
4 more searches with nothing to add
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We couldn’t open the website of Ministry of Health and Wellness, Jamaica when we tried on Oct 11, 2026. That tells us nothing about whether it offers a way to join.
Can people in Jamaica join a registry abroad?
When Love Hope Strength signed up potential stem cell donors on the Welcome to Jamrock Reggae Cruise from Miami in Dec 2015, it took only people living legally in the United States, the Gleaner reported; people from the UK were referred to its representatives there. 17
Are stem cell transplants done in Jamaica?
The Gleaner reported in Apr 2018 that the founder of the Jamaica Multiple Myeloma Support Group had traveled to Tampa, Florida, for a stem cell transplant because Jamaica offered only the more standard treatments. 15
The Gleaner reported in Jun 2020 that a toddler being treated for neuroblastoma at the Bustamante Hospital for Children in Kingston needed a bone marrow transplant that had to be done in the United States. 16
Has Jamaica announced a registry or a law?
In Jul 2025, transplant doctors at the University Hospital of the West Indies called for a national transplant program for Jamaica, with law reform and a registry to track donors and recipients, the Jamaica Observer reported; the country had done 63 living-donor and 121 deceased-donor kidney transplants. 11
Questions about Jamaica
Can a hospital in Jamaica search abroad for a donor?
The Jamaica Observer reported in Jun 2023 that, after three rounds of chemotherapy failed, doctors at the Bustamante Hospital for Children told a mother her four-year-old with leukemia needed a bone marrow transplant, and that she needed about US$80,000 to have it done at a hospital in India. 12
Through the SickKids-Caribbean Initiative, doctors at Jamaica's Bustamante Hospital for Children and the University Hospital of the West Indies can consult specialists at SickKids in Toronto by telemedicine, the Jamaica Observer reported in Nov 2022. 14
About donating: Does it hurt?, How donation works and Recovery.
Know of a registry in Jamaica?
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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
- University Hospital of the West Indies (Jamaica). UHWI homepage. Checked
Official bodies
- Ministry of Health and Wellness, Jamaica. MOHW Jamaica homepage. Tried ; we couldn’t open it
- National Blood Transfusion Service, Jamaica (Government of Jamaica). Home | National Blood Transfusion Service (+ sitemap, 15 URLs). Checked
- Ministry of Health & Wellness, Jamaica. Ministry of Health & Wellness, Jamaica. Checked
Figures and lists
- World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA). Find your registry. Checked
- United Nations Statistics Division. Standard country or area codes for statistical use (M49): Overview (English table). Checked
- UN DESA Population Division. World Population Prospects 2024: Total population by sex (CSV). Checked
- WMDA (Share, Organisation data public access). Database. Checked
- WMDA. WMDA Total Number of Donors and Cord blood units. Checked
Other sources
- The Gleaner (Jamaica). Lesley King | Sickle cell disease – An 'evolutionary trade-off'. Updated Nov 28, 2024.
- Jamaica Observer. Doctors push national organ transplant programme to save lives. Updated Jul 20, 2025.
- Jamaica Observer. Girl, 4, struggles with cancer of the blood and bone marrow. Updated Jun 2, 2023.
- The Gleaner (Jamaica). Medical professionals see progress in cancer diagnosis, treatment. Updated Nov 15, 2024.
- Jamaica Observer. SickKids Caribbean initiative launches fund-raising to aid Jamaican children with cancer. Updated Nov 6, 2022.
- The Gleaner (Jamaica). Doctor's Appointment | Treatment options for multiple myeloma. Updated Apr 4, 2018.
- The Gleaner (Jamaica). Help! Mother living on hope and prayer. Updated Jun 10, 2020.
- The Gleaner (Jamaica). Cruising for cancer survival - Potential donors sign up to save lives on reggae cruise. Updated Dec 13, 2015.