title: Latin America: the next region for haematopoietic transplant progress.
abstract: Haematopoietic cell transplant activity in the 28 countries comprising Latin America is poorly defined. We conducted a voluntary survey of members of the Latin American Bone Marrow Transplantation Group regarding transplant activity 2009-2012. Collated responses were compared with data of transplant rates from the Worldwide Network for Blood and Marrow Transplantation for other geographic regions. Several socio-economic variables were analysed to determine correlations with transplant rates. In total, 94 teams from 12 countries reported 11 519 transplants including 7033 autotransplants and 4486 allotransplants. Annual activity increased from 2517 transplants in 2009 to 3263 in 2012, a 30% increase. Median transplants rate (transplant per million inhabitants) in 2012 was 64 (autotransplants, median 40; allotransplants, median 24). This rate is substantially lower than that in North America and European regions (482 and 378) but higher than that in the Eastern Mediterranean and Asia Pacific regions (30 and 45). However, the Latin America transplant rate is 5-8-fold lower than that in America and Europe, suggesting a need to increase transplant availability. Transplant team density in Latin America (teams per million population; 1.8) is 3-4-fold lower than that in North America (6.2) or Europe (7.6). Within Latin America, there is substantial diversity in transplant rates by country partially explained by diverse socio-economic variables including per capita gross national income, health expenditure and physician density. These data should help inform future health-care policy in Latin America.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitario Fundacion Favaloro, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jaimovich
authors.affiliation: FUNDALEU, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Martinez Rolon
authors.affiliation: The Worldwide Network of Blood and Marrow Transplantation Transplant Activity Survey Office, University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Baldomero
authors.affiliation: Hospital Universitario Austral, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rivas
authors.affiliation: MacroConsulting, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Hanesman
authors.affiliation: Divisão de Laboratórios CEMO/INCA-Lab Célula-tronco, Instituto Nacional de Cancer (INCA), Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bouzas
authors.affiliation: Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit, Federal University of Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bonfim
authors.affiliation: Hospital Dr Luis Calvo Mackenna, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Palma
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Cancerologia, Medellin, Colombia.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kardus-Urueta
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Donacion y Trasplante de Organos Tejidos y Celulas-INDOT, Pompillo Llona, Ecuador.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ubidia
authors.affiliation: Hospital CIMA, San Jose, Costa Rica.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bujan-Boza
authors.affiliation: University of Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Mexico.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Gonzalez-Ramella
authors.affiliation: Clinica Ruiz, Centro de Hematología y Medicina Interna, Puebla, Mexico.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ruiz-Argüelles
authors.affiliation: Servicio de Hematologia, Hospital Universitario Dr. Jose Eleuterio Gonzalez, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Monterrey, Mexico.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gomez-Almaguer
authors.affiliation: Centro Hemato-Oncologia Paitilla, Panama City, Panama.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Espino
authors.affiliation: Instituto Oncologico Nacional, Panama, Panama.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fanilla
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Prevision Social, Asuncion, Paraguay.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional de Salud del Niño San Borja, Lima, Peru.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Carrasco
authors.affiliation: British Hospital, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Galeano
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and Stem Cell Transplantation, Hospital Maciel-A.S.S.E., Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Borelli
authors.affiliation: Universidad de Carabobo MPPS, Valencia, Venezuela.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hernandez-Gimenez
authors.affiliation: Medical College of Wisconsin, Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pasquini
authors.affiliation: Department of Promotion for Blood and Marrow Transplantation, Aichi Medical University School of Medicine, Nagakute, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kodera
authors.affiliation: The Worldwide Network of Blood and Marrow Transplantation Transplant Activity Survey Office, University Hospital, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gratwohl
authors.affiliation: Institute of Operations Research and Computational Finances, University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen, Switzerland.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gratwohl
authors.affiliation: World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Nuñez
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Haematology and Bone Marrow Transplant Service, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Szer
authors.affiliation: Division of Experimental Medicine, Department of Medicine, Haematology Research Centre, Imperial College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Gale
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology and Oncology, University Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Niederwieser
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation, Hospital Samaritano and Associação da Medula Óssea-AMEO, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
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authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Seber
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D005544:Forecasting; D014943:Global Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D018380:Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires