In Spain, more than 3,600 people with leukaemia, lymphoma and other haematological diseases receive a hematopoietic stem cell transplant each year. For many of these patients, their future depends on the generosity of someone who decides to donate their stem cells, either to a family member or a stranger.
The World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) has designated September 22 as World Marrow Donor Day to highlight the importance of this act of solidarity and pay tribute to those who make it possible. Spain’s Ministry of Health, the National Transplant Organization (ONT), and the Spanish Bone Marrow Donor Registry (REDMO), managed by the Josep Carreras Foundation on behalf of the Ministry of Health and the ONT, are joining the initiative.
In 2025, 24,829 new donors joined REDMO — an average of 68 people per day. In the first eight months of 2026 alone, a further 18,766 people registered, equivalent to 77 people per day, bringing the total number of registered donors to 532,996. Donors over the age of 60 are removed from the registry each year.
In absolute numbers, Catalonia recorded the highest number of new donors, followed by Madrid and Andalusia. In terms of donors per 100,000 inhabitants, Extremadura, Murcia and Castilla-La Mancha recorded the highest rates.
REDMO’s operational capacity has enabled a continued increase in the number of donor searches. In 2025, 846 requests for a bone marrow donor search were submitted to REDMO, an 18% increase compared with 2024 and a record high.
Ultimately, 486 Spanish donors completed a bone marrow donation last year for patients in Spain and 29 other countries. This represented a 14% increase compared with the previous year. When the National Bone Marrow Donor Programme (PNMO) was launched in 2012, there were only 35 effective donations. The number has since increased fourteenfold.
It is important to note that the majority of donations are now made through peripheral blood stem cells, without the need for a bone marrow aspiration.
In 2025, the probability of finding a compatible donor through REDMO was 90%, compared with 82% in 2012, while the median search time had fallen to 26 days.
27 years: the average age of donors joining REDMO in 2025
The increase in effective bone marrow donations is due not only to the growth of REDMO, the Spanish Bone Marrow Donor Registry, but also to improvements in donor genetic typing and the recruitment of younger donors.
Currently, 52% of donors registered with REDMO are under 40, compared with 30% in 2012. The average age of donors who joined the registry in 2025 was 27.
This age profile is a major strength of the Registry, as younger donors are associated with better post-transplant outcomes. However, only around one-third of registered donors are male (36%), meaning that achieving greater gender balance remains a challenge.
Measures introduced under the PNMO have also helped increase Spain’s self-sufficiency. Today, one in four patients in Spain (26%) receives a transplant from a Spanish donor, reducing dependence on international registries and contributing to the financial sustainability of the programme.
In addition to the donors registered with REDMO, 60,897 units of umbilical cord blood (UCB) have been donated and stored in Spain’s public cord blood banks. Of these, the highest-quality units — approximately 7% of the inventory — have been identified and characterised through the R2S (Ready 2 Ship) Project under the National Umbilical Cord Blood Plan.
The aim is to make these units readily available when a transplant alternative is urgently needed. The ONT also coordinates the allocation of UCB units that are unsuitable for transplantation to other uses supported by scientific evidence, including the development of innovative medicines, clinical applications in specialised haemotherapy, new cell therapies and biomedical research. Continued promotion of cord blood donation to public banks therefore remains important.
According to the latest activity report from the Spanish National Transplant Organization (ONT), 3,619 haematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCTs) were performed in Spain in 2025. Of these, 1,982 (55%) used the patient’s own cells (autologous transplants), while 1,637 (45%) involved a donor (allogeneic transplants).
Of the allogeneic transplants, 794 used cells from unrelated volunteer donors — the highest figure on record and 17% more than in 2024. From the launch of the National Bone Marrow Donor Programme (PNMO) in 2012 through December 2025, 7,557 patients in Spain received an HSCT from an unrelated donor. Of these, 1,163 were children.
New National Strategy 2027–2031
The National Bone Marrow Donor Programme (PNMO), coordinated by the National Transplant Organization (ONT) and developed in collaboration with the autonomous communities, scientific societies, patient associations and REDMO, has been implemented in successive phases over the past 12 years, with funding from the autonomous communities and the Ministry of Health.
To consolidate these results, support further growth and promote innovation, these stakeholders are now working together under the leadership of the ONT on a new National Strategy for Haematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation and Cell Therapies 2027–2031 (ENTPH-TerCel), which is currently in the consultation phase.
The ENTPH-TerCel strategy brings together five plans with related objectives under a single framework, ranging from bone marrow donation and strengthening cord blood donation to the development of innovative cell therapies.
The new strategy has a dual objective: to ensure that every patient who needs a transplant has timely access to the most suitable donor, while ensuring that the entire process meets the highest standards of quality and safety. It will also align with Regulation (EU) 2024/1938 on substances of human origin (the SoHO Regulation), which will be fully implemented in August 2027.
Its priorities include continuing to expand the REDMO donor registry, adapting the Registry to the needs of advanced therapies, promoting quality certification at every stage of the donation and haematopoietic stem cell transplantation process, and increasing the use of donated cells for clinical innovation. Awareness and recruitment campaigns, particularly those targeting young people, will also be a key focus.
Spanish donors helped patients in 29 countries
More than 44 million people worldwide are registered as bone marrow donors across the 99 registries that make up the WMDA. REDMO is a member of the WMDA and currently has more than 532,900 registered donors. When a medical team requests a donor search, REDMO searches across all WMDA registries.
In terms of the number of registered donors, REDMO ranks fifth in Europe and 13th worldwide. In terms of effectiveness, it ranks seventh in Europe, with one effective donation for every 1,245 registered donors.
In 2025, REDMO coordinated bone marrow donations for 790 Spanish patients and 270 patients in other countries. It also coordinated the shipment of 52 cord blood units to patients in need, 75% of whom were international recipients.
Through this activity, Spanish donors helped save the lives of patients in 29 countries, including the United States, Colombia and Canada.
