Red Cross Flanders reports a sharp increase in the number of people in our region registering as potential stem cell doners. Most notable among the figures is the very large increase in registrations among Flemings with Moroccan or Turkish roots. In the past people from these communities were underrepresented in the stem cell registry. The increase follows media campaigns encouraging donor registration that were aimed at the Moroccan and Turkish diasporas in Flanders.
A total of 7,360 people registered as potential stem cell donors in Flanders in 2025. This is four times the number that did so in 2024, when 1,597 people signed up.
A significant proportion of the new candidate donors came from Moroccan and Turkish communities.
For certain blood and bone marrow disorders, such as leukemia or beta thalassemia, a stem cell transplant can be lifesaving. During a stem cell transplant, a patient’s diseased stem cells are replaced with those from a healthy donor. However, finding a suitable match is not easy, as tissue types must be an almost perfect fit. The greatest chance of a match is from a donor within the patient’s own family. If no match can be found, patients turn to the stem cell registry.
The Belgian stem cell registry currently includes 82,000 potential donors. Meanwhile, 43 million potential donners are listed on the global stem cell registry 43 million. For patients with European roots, the chance of finding a match is 96%. However, people with roots in Morocco, Turkey or Sub-Saharan Africa have only a 66% chance of finding a match.
The power of the media
In February 2025 an 8-year-old boy launched an appeal to find stem cell donors with Turkish roots. In December an appeal by a 11-year-old boy with Moroccan also generated a strong response.
Red Cross Flanders’ Vincent Verbeecke told VRT News that “In 2024, 73 Flemish people with Moroccan or Turkish roots registered, and in 2025, that number had risen to 2,972. This high number is crucial in order to give more patients a chance of life”. In addition to these, 3,078 Flemish people with European roots registered with the stem cell registry.