To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent steps he has taken to increase the number of blood donors who are bone marrow donors; and if he will make a statement. (304102)

The National Blood Service (part of NHS Blood and Transplant) currently recruits bone marrow donors from the existing pool of blood donors and therefore efforts to promote bone marrow donation are focused through existing channels of communication with donors. Information on bone marrow donation is available at blood collection sessions, and staff actively promote bone marrow donation particularly to blood donors from black and minority ethnic communities.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with the devolved Administrations on increasing the number of bone marrow donors. (304104)

NHS Blood and Transplant, as the special health authority with responsibility for ensuring the supply of blood, organs, stem cells and tissues for patients, holds regular meetings with its counterparts from across the UK where all issues on donation and collection are discussed.

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has not held any meetings with the devolved Administrations on increasing the number of bone marrow donors.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many and what proportion of patients who received bone marrow and stem cell treatments in the last 12 months were administered cells from (a) UK donors and (b) foreign donors from each country. (304105)

This information is not collected.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his most recent estimate is of the unit cost of identifying the tissue type of a bone marrow or stem cell donor by samples taken from (a) a blood donor at the time of donation and (b) a DNA swab. (304185)

NHS Blood and Transplant use the following cost estimates for extracting Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) from blood samples and buccal swabs:

(a) Blood samples: £203.97 for 48 test kits fully automated

(b) Buccal swab: £117.60 for 50 test kits manual

One test kit is used for each donor.

Because the kits for buccal swabs are not fully automated, there will be additional costs as the process requires more staff time.