DKMS, the world’s largest stem cell donor database and an international non-profit committed to saving the lives of people with blood cancer and blood disorders, has released its second Global Impact Report.
The 2024 report outlines DKMS’s major achievements and milestones, featuring inspiring stories from donors whose selfless contributions have saved lives and from survivors expressing heartfelt gratitude. These narratives underscore DKMS’s core mission — to give every patient battling blood cancer or blood disorders a second chance at life.
Global participation in stem cell donation remains vital for enabling lifesaving transplants. To date, DKMS has registered over 13 million potential donors and facilitated more than 1,30,000 stem cell donations worldwide since its founding in 1991. In 2024 alone, the organization’s database included 12.7 million registered donors from seven countries across five continents, with 7,29,344 new registrations, including nearly 80,000 from India.
During the same year, 9,126 patients across 60 countries received transplants through DKMS, including over 40 donations from India. Additionally, 2,275 patients, mainly from medically underserved regions, accessed lifesaving transplants through DKMS’s aid programs and initiatives — 454 of them in 2024.
A key milestone in 2024 was the first-ever transplant of stored stem cells from an adult donor (ADCUs) for a blood cancer patient. The DKMS Stem Cell Bank in Dresden became the first institution globally to store surplus peripheral stem cells from adult donors, ensuring they can be made available quickly for patients in urgent need of transplantation.