Stem cell donors reaches 3,000 mark

The number of hematopoietic stem cell donors in the Chinese mainland hit 3,000 on Friday, as the country saw a rapid increase in donors over the last four years, an official said.

Hong Junling, director of the China Marrow Donor Program, a nonprofit organization under the auspices of the Red Cross Society of China, said that 3,000 people have donated their blood cells to domestic and overseas patients through the program.

"It took 12 years for the CMDP to witness the growth of stem cell donors from the first case to the 1,000th case from 1996 to 2008, yet the number increased from 1,000 to 3,000 cases within the last four years," he said during a news conference on Friday.