Welcome to the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ABMDR)

The ABMDR is part of a worldwide network of unrelated donor registries. It was established in 1991 as a register of people who are willing to donate their bone marrow or haemopoietic stem cells (HSC) if they are found to be a suitable match for a patient needing a bone marrow transplant.

The ABMDR provides access to a global database of  volunteer donors and cord blood units for patients who require a bone marrow or haemopoietic stem cells transplantation but have not found a suitable matched sibling or relative.

Many Australians each year are diagnosed with having leukemia or other fatal blood disorders. A bone marrow or haemopoietic stem cells transplant is the only possibility of cure for many of these patients. Donors need to be suitable matched to the patient which can make it very difficult to find a donor for patients with rare tissue typing. Only 1 in 1000 donors will be a suitable match for a patient requiring a transplant in any given year.

Siblings are the ideal donor for a patient in need of a bone marrow or haemopoietic stem cells transplant, but only one patient in three will find a matched donor within their family. The other two in three patients rely on the ABMDR or other international registries to find them a suitable match.

A person's tissue type is directly related to his or her ethnic origin. Australia needs donors who reflect the many different communities. Without this it becomes difficult to find suitable matched donors of non-European or mixed ethnic backgrounds.

By joining the ABMDR and volunteering to be a bone marrow or haemopoietic stem cells donor you could save a life and offer someone the chance of a lifetime.