Swiss Blood Stem Cells: More than Just a Registry

Swiss Transfusion SRC, division Swiss Blood Stem Cells (SBSC), is an important national organization for all matters relating to blood stem cells. Not only has its name changed several times over the years but also its role has developed steadily and today goes beyond registry alone. For example, on order of and in close collaboration with transplant doctors, the organization searches for suitable donors worldwide. Searching for unrelated donors for Swiss patients and organizing the deliveries of the transplant tissues for Swiss and foreign patients are the most time-consuming procedures at SBSC. Additionally, the organization pays special attention to the problem of donor follow-up. Here it has made important contributions to the field of data collection (minimal data set) and helped to strengthen international coordination. As of January 2011, the organization has a new structure, because it has joined forces with the SRC Blood Transfusion Service. The new organization will be called Swiss Transfusion SRC, but SBSC remains as a main operational unit of the new organization. In 2009, SBSC implemented a successful new strategy to increase the numbers of donors: donors can now register online. This step led to a remarkable increase of donor numbers from 2009 to 2010.