MEMORANDUM To: Apheresis Centers Collection Centers Cooperative Registries Cord Blood Banks Donor Centers Recruitment Groups Transplant Centers From: Jeffrey W. Chell, M.D. CEO The world's transplant community came together on World Donor Day Wednesday, Nov. 16 to recognize the 10 million individuals who have registered as volunteer marrow or blood cell donors. This includes participants from 56 donor registries in 42 countries and 38 cord blood banks in 21 countries. Every search conducted through the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) provides patients with access to the global donor listing - including donors and cord blood units listed through the NMDP and its international Registry partners, as well as access to the Bone Marrow Donors Worldwide (BMDW) donor listing. Since most donors are in North America or Europe, the chance of finding a potential donor for patients of North Western European origin is high, but for patients from other ethnic groups the chance is much lower. International exchange of bone marrow and cord blood units is important. More than 35 percent of the donations go across international boundaries. The World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) was founded to develop guidelines for the collection and the transfer of the blood stem cells and to guarantee quality standards for the patients' and donors' health. The NMDP is proud to play a key role in the WMDA and the World Donor Day milestone of 10 million donors. Related documents available online: 10 Million Marrow Donors Registered Worldwide http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/051116/clw511.html?.v=15 (link expired)