Call for donors to join bone marrow registry
The SA Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR) has seen a drop in local donor registrations since the start of the pandemic.
THE coronavirus pandemic has had a devastating impact on many industries and has now also taken its toll on the treatment of blood disorders and stem cell transplantations worldwide – putting thousands of lives at risk.
Dr Charlotte Ingram, medical director of the SA Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR) – the largest registry in the country – says they too have seen a drop in local donor registrations since the start of the pandemic. She attributes the decline to physical events that drive blood stem cell donor registrations having to be cancelled around the country.
In light of the pandemic, the SABMR will for the foreseeable future, recruit all donors online.
“Our number one priority is to protect our donors, potential donors and patients while continuing to offer a second chance of life to those who need it. Patients with blood disorders, such as leukemia and thalassemia around the world are still in urgent need of blood stem cell transplants. That doesn’t change. The fewer donors we have, the lesser the chance of finding a match. As it is, the chance of finding a successful match is approximately one in 100 000.
“Only 30 per cent of people are lucky enough to find donors in their family, while the remaining 70 per cent must look elsewhere for a match. When local matches aren’t found, international registries are accessed, but even so, the odds of finding a match are slim, and in the event of an international match being found, the process is an expensive one. In SA, the registry is currently not reflective of our demographics and unfortunately worldwide only 27 per cent of donors are of colour, which makes finding a match even more problematic,” she said.
To drive donor registrations, the SABMR has stepped up their efforts by launching an online campaign, with the aim of achieving 10 000 new volunteer donors before World Marrow Donor Day (WMDD), which is celebrated annually on 19 September. The SABMR’s target is to have 100 000 donors available for patients in need at any given time.
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