International Rare Donor Panel

The International Rare Donor Panel (IRDP) was conceived under a joint World Health Organisation (WHO) and ISBT initiative in 1965 to facilitate the rapid location and exchange of rare blood between countries.

The panel currently contains details of rare donors from 27 contributing countries and also frozen unit inventories from frozen blood banks around the world. The compilation and maintenance of the IRDP is carried out by the Red Cell Reference department of the IBGRL in Bristol, UK. 

Access to this database is restricted to medical professionals who may be required to source rare blood for clinical use only. To request an account or for additional assistance please complete our online contact form.

Using the database

These resources have been provided to assist users in navigating the IRDP database.

• IRDP user guide: performing a search for donors/units (PDF 569KB)
• IRDP user guide: performing a search for donors/units & contributing to the panel (PDF 1,021KB)
• Training video: using the IRDP database
• Bulk upload template v3 (CSV 1KB) - for institutions contributing rare donors and units to the panel

2020 upgrade project

In 2020 NHSBT led a project to upgrade the International Rare Donor Panel database and functionality on behalf of ISBT. We are grateful to the following manufacturers and registries who contributed to the funding of this upgrade.

Spanish Society of Blood Transfusion and Cellular Therapy (SETS)

Canadian Blood Services

Swiss Transfusion SRC

New Zealand Blood Service

 South African National Blood Service (SANBS)

 Sanquin
(The Netherlands)

Australian Red Cross