Written question asked by Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour) on Monday, 15 June 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 18 June 2026 (named day). A holding answer was provided on Friday, 19 June 2026. A substantive answer was provided by Preet Kaur Gill (Labour) on Thursday, 25 June 2026 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Stem Cells: Donors

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential implications for national health security of the decline in domestically sourced haematopoietic stem cell (HSC) donations from 42% in 2017/18 to 24% in 2024/25, in the context of the UK Stem Cell Strategic Forum's recommended minimum of 45%.

Answer: To ensure sustainability and resilience of the United Kingdom’s stem cell supply, the UK Stem Cell Strategic Forum recommended a 45% share for UK-to-UK donor to recipient provision. Imported stem cells have a significantly higher cost than collecting them from UK donors. Through our funding of the DHSC Stem Cell Programme we have supported recruitment of UK donors to the UK aligned stem cell registry to make progress towards the suggested target. The Department recognises that UK-to-UK provision has nonetheless continued to decline and we have launched a comprehensive review of the current system to ensure stem cell supply and use for transplantation is optimised.

Secondary information