Academy
Transfusion services and stem cell transplantation in Latin America and the Caribean
Kenneth Charles
The University of the West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago
Mickey Koh
St George’s University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK
Nina Worel
Medical University of Vienna, Austria
The World Network for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (WBMT) held its 10th Annual Conference in Panama City, Panama on June 24th-27th 2026 to raise awareness about haemopoietic stem cell transplant (HCT) and cellular therapy (CT) among health care professionals from Latin America and the Caribbean. It highlighted progress made in high and low or middle income countries (HIC and LMIC) towards achieving the dual World Health Organization (WHO) goals of integrating transplant services into health care systems, and achieving universal access to safe blood through voluntary non-remunerated blood donation.1,2
International collaboration
Organized by the Worldwide Network for Blood and Marrow Transplantation (WBMT) in collaboration with the Latin American Bone Marrow Transplantation Group (LABMT), with the support of the Sociedad Panameña de Hematología, and in partnership with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the (WHO), the panel comprised officials from HIC with well-established SCT and CT programmes and LMIC with programmes in development or in the planning.
The event was anchored by Mickey Koh (Singapore and UK), President of WBMT along with Ninotchka Mendoza and Dre. Germán Espino from the Local Organizing Committee.
Renowned speakers in the field of transplants and cell therapy were invited, including regional countries (USA, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Brazil) as well as far afield (Germany, UK, Singapore, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Austria). Importantly, official representatives from the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) were also present at the event.
Deligates during registration at the World Hepatitis Day 2026 Seminar. Organised by RBC Swat and supported by ISBT Academy.
Speakers of the Opening Session on Day 1, from left: Germán Espino (Hematologist, Centro Hemato Oncológico Panamá – CHOP, Panama), Ninotchka Mendoza (Head of the HSCT Unit, Caja de Seguro Social - CSS, Panama), Manuel Zambrano (Vice Minister of Health of the Republic of Panama), Ana Rivière Cinnamond (PAHO/WHO Representative in Panama), Mickey BC Koh (WBMT President), Andrés Gómez-De León (LABMT - Vice-President)
Highlights of the conference
Advice and experiences in establishing, monitoring and sustaining SCT/CT programmes were shared between HIC and LMIC participants. Sessions included:
- Foundation for the Accreditation of Cellular Therapy and Joint Accreditation Committee of ISCT and EBMT (FACT-JACIE) standards
- Quality Management in Cellular Therapy
- Achieving FACT-JACIE Accreditation under Resource Constraints
- Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) and cellular therapies (CT) in the global, regional and national context
- Essential requirements for establishing an HCT Program
- Getting Started with the Transplant Program and Indications for HCT
- Training and Dissemination of Knowledge
- Transfusion services for HCT centers
- Donor Selection and Donor Safety
- Emerging infectious diseases
- Complications of HCT
- Laboratory support
- Quality Assurance in HCT Centers
- Patient/Donor Registration and Outcome Database
- Emerging immunotherapies in Hematological Malignancies
Mickey BC Koh speaking during the Opening Session
WBMT/ISBT joint session
Speakers from Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela reported on HCT/CT activity in these 13 countries. HCT activity in 7 of these 13 countries is supported by finance mechanisms including government funding, private insurance, social security, and personal out-of-pocket payments in public and private institutions. In 8/13, GDP per capita is < US $ 10,000.00. Barriers were reported in the areas of staffing, training, support, and funding. Inadequacy of blood transfusion support underpinned limitation of HCT across the region, with 10/13 delegates reporting < 17 blood donations per 1000 population compared to 30 per 1000 recommended by WHO for delivery of advanced medical services. In 8/13 of the countries, > 80% of donors were family replacement donor (FRDs). FRDs donate units of blood under pressure from the health system, patients or relatives equivalent to that used or projected to be used as a precondition for procedure requiring transfusion. Where this type of blood donation is practised, citizens withhold their donations until a relative is in need rather than donating regularly as a voluntary non remunerated donor (VNRD). Countries that rely on FRDs collect less blood that is less safe and not equally available.3,4 There is chronic blood shortage, hoarding and higher transfusion transmissible infections (TTIs) among donors affecting universal access to safe blood.5,6
View of the audience in the auditorium
The way forward
As a haematologist in Trinidad and Tobago, I face the problem of chronic blood shortage and unavailability due to FRD-reliance on a daily basis. This renders quick access to safe blood unreliable and has prevented the development of HCT despite high resources (GDP $ 18,967.00 USD per capita). While the Conference demonstrated the possibility of establishing HCT programmes in similar settings, it highlighted the ethical dilemma of balancing PAHO/WHO’s dual recommendations of advancing HCT services [1] and ensuring universal access to safe blood through 100% voluntary non remunerated blood donation.7 Perhaps the combined message of ‘100% VNRD for HCT’ is appropriate. The effectiveness of research, population engagement, regulatory change and outreach in promoting voluntary non remunerated blood donation have been demonstrated in Nicaragua 8 and Trinidad and Tobago. 9 All in all, the Conference demonstrated immense cooperation, commitment and respectful information exchange among colleagues to advance a service that would benefit large vulnerable populations.
For further Workshops and information about WBMT, please visit www.wbmt.org
References
1. World Health Assembly. Increasing availability, ethical access and oversight of transplantation of human cells, tissues and organs. Resolution WHA77.4. Geneva: World Health Organization; (2024). Available online at: https://apps.who.int/gb/ebwha/pdf_files/WHA77/A77_R4-en.pdf. Accessed August 25th 2026.
2. World Health Organization. Towards 100% voluntary blood donation: a global framework for action. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2010. Available from: who.int. Accessed 30th August 2026.
3. Pan American Health Organization WHO. Transfusion Medicine in the Caribbean and Latin American Countries, 2000 – 2003. Washington, DC: PAHO, 2005.
4. Organization PAH. 48th Directing Council. Improving blood availability and transfusion safety in the Americas. CD 48/11. Washington, DC: PAHO; 2008.
5. Global status report on blood safety and availability 2025. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2026. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
6. Organización Panamericana de la Salud. Acceso a sangre para transfusión en países de América Latina y el Caribe 2023: Informe preliminar. https://www.paho.org/es/documentos/acceso-sangre-para-transfusion-paises-america-latina-caribe-2023-informe-preliminar. PAHO, Washington DC, 2025.
7. World Health Organization. Towards 100% voluntary blood donation: a global framework for action. Geneve, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2010. Available from: https://www.who. int/publications/i/item/9789241599696 Accessed August 5, 2026.
8. Berrios R, Gonzalez A, Cruz JR. Achieving self-sufficiency of red blood cells based on universal voluntary blood donation in Latin America. The case of Nicaragua. Transfus Apher Sci. 2013 Dec;49(3):387-96. doi: 10.1016/j.transci.2013.06.013. Epub 2013 Jul 13. PMID: 23860003.
9. Charles KS, Rojas R, De Four M, Friday M. Five year follow -up of a university initiated national voluntary non remunerated blood donation programme in a developing country. Transfus Apher Sci. 2025 Feb;64(1):104042. doi: 10.1016/j.transci.2024.104042. Epub 2024 Dec 7. PMID: 39674059.
