Thank you for contacting me about bone marrow donors between the ages of 16 and 20.

I fully support efforts to increase the number of stem cell (cord blood and bone marrow) donors and I recognise the important work Anthony Nolan undertakes. When I was the Minister for Public Health I had responsibility for this invaluable work and I am a proud supporter of Anthony Nolan. I am reassured to see the Government making progress across all donations in the last four and a half years.

I recognise that as a nation we need to do all we can to encourage young people to become donors. That is why NHS Blood and Transplant has developed a free teaching resource pack called ‘Give and Let Live’, available for schools. It contains a teachers' booklet which includes case studies and background information about the need for more donors and demonstrates to young people how they can make a difference to people's lives. The pack is aimed at students aged 14 and over and is a great idea.

More generally, in each of the last four years the Department of Health has provided an extra £4 million investment in NHS stem cell services, some of which has been given to Anthony Nolan to improve the speed and ability to match donors to patients. I am pleased that this large investment will help save lives.