Ethical ways to increase donation of haematopoietic stem cells

Ethical issues in the context of human biological material donation have been discussed for a long time, from organ donation to tissue and cell donation. One main ethical concern related to donation has to do with ways to increase donation in safe and ethical ways. In this paper we focus on ethical ways to increase donation in the context of unrelated haematopoietic stem cell donation, such as tailored information about risks and benefits, and non­monetary benefits. We also discuss whether current practices that are used for increasing donation are ethical or not, such as investing effort and resources for certain types of haemato­poietic stem cell banks, payment for donation, advertising and directed donation. We conclude with some recommendations for moving forward the debate on this field and promoting ethical practices within the field of haematopoietic stem cell donation not only in the Swiss context but potentially applicable worldwide.