TANZANIA · AFRICA
Is there a bone marrow registry in Tanzania?
For people who live in Tanzania. Live somewhere else? Find your country.
As of , we haven’t found a bone marrow donor registry that people who live in Tanzania can join. That doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Benjamin Mkapa Hospital in Dodoma, a public hospital under Tanzania’s Ministry of Health, does bone marrow transplants for sickle cell disease using matched brothers and sisters as donors, its website says. 1 2
| Region | Eastern Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Africa 9 |
|---|---|
| Population | About 66.6 million (2023) 10 |
| Registry | None found as of 7 8 |
| World donor search | No organization based in Tanzania lists adult donors or cord blood units in WMDA’s Search & Match (). 8 |
| Transplants | Benjamin Mkapa Hospital, set up by Tanzania’s government on Oct 13, 2015, lists bone marrow transplants for sickle cell patients from matched siblings among its hematology services, with 21 patients transplanted, under its achievements for 2023. 1 2 |
| Where we looked | 6 places, in English and Swahili |
| Checked | |
| Next check |
What we found in Tanzania
Tanzania’s Benjamin Mkapa Hospital uses matched siblings as donors. 1
| Where | Language | Finding | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| World Marrow Donor Association | English | On Oct 11, 2026, WMDA’s map of member registries showed none based in Tanzania, and no organization based in Tanzania listed donor records in WMDA’s Search & Match. 7 8 | |
| National Blood Transfusion Service, Tanzania | Swahili | On Oct 11, 2026, a search of Tanzania’s National Blood Transfusion Service site for “uboho”, Swahili for bone marrow, returned “Your search returned no results”. 6 | |
| National Blood Transfusion Service, Tanzania | Swahili | An English search of Tanzania’s National Blood Transfusion Service site for “bone marrow” failed with a connection error on Oct 11, 2026; its Swahili search for “uboho” found nothing. 6 | |
| Benjamin Mkapa Hospital (BMH) | Swahili | On Oct 11, 2026, the hematology department of Benjamin Mkapa Hospital in Tanzania said, in Swahili, that its bone marrow transplant service was set up for sickle cell patients, the first in East and Central Africa, and that 21 patients had been transplanted; it describes no registry of unrelated donors. 1 | |
2 more searches with nothing to add
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Can people in Tanzania join a registry abroad?
Are stem cell transplants done in Tanzania?
Benjamin Mkapa Hospital says it is working with the University of Dodoma and Tanzania’s Ministry of Health to set up a regional center of excellence for its marrow transplant unit. 1
The Citizen reported in May 2026 that Tanzania’s Benjamin Mkapa Hospital had started a Sh7 billion fund for 50 bone marrow transplants, mostly for children with sickle cell disease, and that a transplant there costs Sh50 million to Sh55 million, against more than Sh275 million overseas. 12
Daily News reported in February 2025 that Tanzania’s sickle cell advanced therapy program had screened 1,500 patients, found 157 possible candidates for exchange transfusion or a stem cell transplant, and HLA-typed 127 people to identify possible marrow donors. 15
Benjamin Mkapa Hospital’s hematology department, set up in 2018 and a department of its own since 2022, says on its Swahili site that it works with specialists from Italy on its bone marrow transplant service, which treats sickle cell patients using matched siblings as donors. 1
Has Tanzania announced a registry or a law?
Daily News reported that in May 2023 Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa opened bone marrow transplant services at Benjamin Mkapa Hospital in Dodoma, backed by 2.7 billion shillings of Tanzanian government money, the second such service after Muhimbili National Hospital; what opened was a transplant service, not a donor registry. 11
Tanzania Daily News reported in May 2026 that the East African Community had designated Benjamin Mkapa Hospital its center of excellence for bone marrow transplants for children with sickle cell disease, and that Tanzania’s government covers 75 million shillings of each patient’s costs. 14
Questions about Tanzania
Can a hospital in Tanzania search abroad for a donor?
Tanzania Daily News reported in June 2026 that Benjamin Mkapa Hospital had given stem cell transplants to 30 children with sickle cell disease, that the service still depends on compatible family donors, and that work is under way to widen donor options beyond family matches. 13
About donating: Does it hurt?, How donation works and Recovery.
Know of a registry in Tanzania?
Download the card
The link preview says: “No verified way to join yet. That doesn’t mean there isn’t one. Here’s what we checked.”
Registries
- Benjamin Mkapa Hospital (BMH). Idara ya Hematologia – Hospitali ya Benjamin Mkapa.
- Benjamin Mkapa Hospital (BMH). Hospitali ya Benjamin Mkapa | BMH.
- SABMR. Donor Exclusion Criteria - SABMR.
- DKMS Africa. Registration (1/11) - first eligibility screen.
- DKMS Africa. Blood stem cell registration form for non-sa citizens.
Official bodies
- National Blood Transfusion Service, Tanzania. NBTS Tanzania site search 'uboho'.
Figures and lists
- World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA). Find your registry.
- WMDA. WMDA Total Number of Donors and Cord blood units.
- 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).
Other sources
- Daily News (Tanzania). Milestone in bone marrow transplant. Updated May 11, 2023. Checked
- The Citizen (Tanzania). Benjamin Mkapa Hospital seeks Sh7 billion for life-saving bone marrow transplants. Updated May 21, 2026. Checked
- Tanzania Daily News. Tanzania: Inside BMH's Bold Leap Into Transplant Medicine. Updated Jun 1, 2026. Checked
- Tanzania Daily News. Tanzania: BMH Sets Sights On Medical Tourism. Updated May 22, 2026. Checked
- Daily News (Tanzania). Tanzania pioneers sickle cell treatment advancements in Africa. Updated Feb 24, 2025. Checked