Become a bone marrow donor in the Marshall Islands

NMDP signs up people who live in the Marshall Islands. It is run by National Marrow Donor Program, a nonprofit organization.

NMDP is the registry to join from the Marshall Islands, because its residence rule includes freely associated states. Gift of Life, another U.S. registry, says in its FAQ that it typically doesn’t register donors from other countries, with no mention of the Marshall Islands. [2, 6]

People in Majuro, Ebeye and the outer atolls fit NMDP’s rule for freely associated states. [2, 15]

To be referred to tertiary hospitals in Hawaii, Manila or Taiwan, patients in the Marshall Islands must be enrolled in its national Basic Insurance, which covers all Marshallese citizens automatically; foreign residents need a year of Social Security payments, the Marshall Islands’ 2021 Title V report says. [8]

Majuro Hospital and Ebeye Hospital give primary, secondary and some tertiary care, and most patients needing tertiary care are referred to hospitals in the Philippines, Hawaii’s Tripler Army Medical Center and Taiwan, the Marshall Islands told the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration in its 2021 Title V report. [8]

Outside Majuro and Ebeye, the Marshall Islands has 59 health centers on the outer atolls and islands, and its Ministry of Health has a Medical Referral Office among its eight bureaus, ASTHO says; tertiary cases go to Honolulu or the Philippines. [15]

The Marshall Islands began referring patients to Taiwan in 2019, its 2020 Title V report says, adding Taiwan to the hospitals in the Philippines and Hawaii’s Tripler Army Medical Center that took most of its tertiary referrals; the Taiwan Health Center also sends monthly specialist missions to Majuro Hospital. [7]