Health minister Edith Schippers is urging more people to consider becoming stem cell donors to help the fight against diseases such as leukaemia, AD reports.

Blood cancers, including leukaemia, can be effectively treated by a stem cell transplant, but there is a shortage of available donors in the Netherlands, according to the Dutch stem cell centre Matchis.

Schippers is launching a campaign together with Matchis that aims to increase the number of registered donors from its current level of 104,000.

Transplants are most likely to be successful where the donor is aged 18 to 35, although anyone under 50 who is in good health is encouraged to register. Each year around one in 1,000 registered donors is asked to donate stem cells.