Bone marrow donor age limit adjusted

South African youth aged 16 and 17 can now enter their names in the history books alongside their peers in the United Kingdom under the headline of the world’s youngest bone marrow donors.

After the South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR) received the nod from its Clinical Governance Committee and board members, as well as the National Health Department, to allow 16- and 17-year-old teens to become bone marrow stem cell donors, SA is only the second country in the world after the UK to do this.

This after recent changes in the legislation and advances in stem cell donation have allowed registries to reduce the age limit of donors.

Research shows that younger donors are associated with better survival rates for patients following a stem cell transplant. Previously, teenagers had to wait until they were 18 to join the registry.

Now they can join by following the exact same procedure as others would. While it is not required, it is important for the SABMR to involve parents and address any questions or concerns they may have relating to the procedure and what it entails.

Currently, 18-25-year-olds only account for 6.8% of the registry, but with increased awareness of bone marrow donation among young people the figure should increase substantially.

Despite having 74 000 donors on the registry, many of the older donors can no longer donate stem cells as they have developed hypertension, heart disease or diabetes.

Opening up the donor pool to a younger audience, means doctors and donors can choose the healthiest matches that substantially increases a patient’s chance of survival.

For now, social media will serve as the primary channel to create awareness among the youth, but physical donor drives at schools and other initiatives, which encourage collaboration between learners, peers and patients, are in the pipeline for 2021.

If you are between the ages of 16 and 45 and want to become a donor, contact the SABMR on 021 447 8638 or email: donors@sabmr.co.za.