SOLOMON ISLANDS · OCEANIA
Is there a bone marrow registry in the Solomon Islands?
For people who live in the Solomon Islands. Live somewhere else? Find your country.
As of , we haven’t found a bone marrow donor registry that people who live in the Solomon Islands can join. That doesn’t mean there isn’t one. The Solomon Islands needs about 14,000 blood donors a year but collected only 4,500 donations in 2023, the National Referral Hospital’s laboratory director told SIBC in June 2024. 13
| Region | Melanesia, Oceania 8 |
|---|---|
| Population | About 800,000 (2023) 9 |
| Registry | None found as of 7 |
| World donor search | No organization based in the Solomon Islands lists adult donors or cord blood units in WMDA’s Search & Match (). 10 |
| Transplants | We haven’t found a stem cell transplant service in the Solomon Islands. That doesn’t mean there isn’t one. A 2012 study written with the Ministry of Health and Medical Services places the National Referral Hospital in Honiara above seven provincial hospitals. 14 |
| Where we looked | 5 places, in English and Pijin |
| Checked | |
| Next check |
What we found in the Solomon Islands
The Solomon Islands’ National Referral Hospital in Honiara heads its referral system. 14
| Where | Language | Finding | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Marrow Donor Association | English | The World Marrow Donor Association’s member map listed no organization based in the Solomon Islands when we checked it on Oct 11, 2026. 7 | |
| Web search | English | A web search on Oct 11, 2026 for the overseas referral of Solomon Islands leukemia patients found nothing on leukemia, transplants or donor registration in the Solomon Islands. 14 | |
| Web search | English | A Solomon Islands Pijin web search on Oct 11, 2026 found no result in Pijin, only SIBC’s English reports on the National Referral Hospital blood bank and the Red Cross voluntary donor program. 13 | |
2 more searches with nothing to add
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We couldn’t open Solomon Islands Government’s website when we tried on Oct 11, 2026. That tells us nothing about whether it offers a way to join.
Can people in the Solomon Islands join a registry abroad?
Only 924 people identified as Solomon Islander at New Zealand’s 2023 Census, Stats NZ says; those living there can join its registry from 18 to 35. Tavuli News reported that most Solomon Islands patients sent abroad go to Australia, but Stem Cell Donors Australia asks for Medicare, as checked on Oct 16, 2026. 1 2 3 6 12
Are stem cell transplants done in the Solomon Islands?
Tavuli News reported in February 2023 that the Solomon Islands’ only cancer unit, at the National Referral Hospital in Honiara, opened in 2018, works as a day care center with no ward, and gave more than 700 chemotherapy sessions in 2021. 11
Tavuli News reported in March 2023 that Solomon Islands’ health ministry was in talks with the Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Children’s Hospital in Fiji to send Solomon Islands children with correctable congenital heart problems for surgery when Indian cardiac surgical teams visit Fiji. 12
Has the Solomon Islands announced a registry or a law?
Solomon Islands’ health ministry said in March 2023, as Tavuli News reported, that a 10-bed arrangement with St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney for referred patients stopped in 2017 and that it was in talks with two other countries’ governments about hospital agreements. 12
Questions about the Solomon Islands
Can a hospital in the Solomon Islands search abroad for a donor?
Tavuli News reported in March 2023, from a health ministry statement, that the National Referral Hospital’s Overseas Referral Committee has SBD 2 million a year for patients sent abroad, mainly to Australia, where treatment alone can cost AUD 30,000 to 60,000, and a few to St Luke’s Hospital in the Philippines or to Fiji. 12
Tavuli News reported in February 2023 that a three-year-old from Honiara diagnosed with leukemia in June 2022 was treated in the Philippines after his family raised money for overseas care; the report doesn’t mention a donor search. 11
About donating: Does it hurt?, How donation works and Recovery.
Know of a registry in the Solomon Islands?
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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
- Stem Cell Donors Australia (Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry). Pre-Enrolment Questions pt 1 (cheek swab route). Checked
- New Zealand Bone Marrow Donor Registry (NZ Blood Service). Who can join.
- New Zealand Bone Marrow Donor Registry (NZ Blood Service). How to join.
Official bodies
- Solomon Islands Government. Ministry of Health and Medical Services. Tried ; we couldn’t open it
- Solomon Islands Government. Overseas referral item (search-result title only). Tried ; we couldn’t open it
- Stats NZ. Solomon Islander, Place and ethnic group summaries. 2023. Checked
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. WMDA Total Number of Donors and Cord blood units.
Other sources
- Tavuli News. Cancer A Not So Silent Killer. Updated Feb 14, 2023. Checked
- Tavuli News. MHMS work to re-establish partnerships with overseas hospitals for referrals. Updated Mar 11, 2023. Checked
- Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation. Blood Crisis: give blood, Save Lives – still a long road ahead to meet demand. Updated Jun 18, 2024.
- Rural and Remote Health (journal). Frequency, cost and impact of inter-island referrals in the Solomon Islands (Negin et al.). Updated Sep 19, 2012.