Haemopoietic Progenitor Cell Program Grant Guidelines

Overview

The Haemopoietic Progenitor Cell Program (HPCP) supports the health of Australians by providing access to potentially lifesaving Haemopoietic Progenitor Cells (HPC) therapy.   The HPCP is demand driven and comprises: • the International Searches Program (ISP), which provides financial assistance to eligible Australian patients to search internationally for compatible HPCs, cord blood units or donors. This program is funded by the Commonwealth but is administered by the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ABMDR). • the Bone Marrow Transplant Program (BMTP), which provides financial support for aspects of treatment for eligible Australian transplant recipients of imported HPCs. This program is administered by the Department of Health (the Department). The ABMDR‘s role in this program is to identify incoming invoices attributable to the BMTP and forward them to the Department for payment. Through the HPCP the Australian Government aims to improve Australians’ access to organ and tissue transplants by supporting eligible Australians to access potentially lifesaving HPC therapy through: • maintenance of the Bone Marrow Donor Registry (Donor Registry), including essential infrastructure; • providing searching services of international registries for compatible donors when a domestic donor is not available; • coordinating the testing of overseas-based relatives for compatibility; and   • reimbursing the travel expenses accrued when bringing internationally sourced HPCs to Australia, or for a relative to travel to Australia for the purpose of donating.