The World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) is the global umbrella organisation for blood stem cell donor registries. It interlinks national registries and creates the basis for reliable international cooperation.

This networking is of key importance for Switzerland. Swiss “self-sufficiency” is extremely low, meaning that a donor can be found in the Swiss registry for only a small percentage of the patients here. Thus, the ability to search the international registries is vital for the vast majority of patients.

Thanks to the WMDA, the Swiss registry is part of a global network. The network enables the exchange of data via standardised and secure processes and worldwide donor searches.  Internationally agreed guidelines on quality, ethics, data privacy and donor protection provide the framework, ensuring that all member registries work in accordance with high standards.

Bottom line: international cooperation is necessary to enable patients in Switzerland even to obtain access to a life-saving stem cell transplant.

Thanks to the international cooperation among registries, patients around the world have better chances of receiving the right donation – including patients in Switzerland. The more diverse someone’s genetic background is, the more complicated the search becomes. Donations from Switzerland continue to be in demand internationally.

Of the 198 matched unrelated donor transplants undergone by Swiss patient in 2025 only two involved material donated in Switzerland.

The donations transplanted to patients in Switzerland came from a total of 23 different countries, with Germany accounting for the most (112), followed by Poland (20), the USA (16), and the United Kingdom (9). These are countries that have a large number of donors in their registries.

The 105 blood stem cell donations and three cord blood donations collected in Switzerland went to patients in the USA (29), Germany (15), Italy (14) and 20 other countries (including Switzerland).