SA Bone Marrow Registry hosts stellar campaign

OVER the last three decades, the SA Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR) has travelled the equivalent of almost six times to the moon and back to collect blood stem cells from all four corners of the globe for South African patients in need of a transplant.

This as a mere 1% of South African citizens are registered stem cell donors, compared with 13% in Cyprus, 12% in Israel and 9% in Germany.

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These precious stem cells help rebuild a patient’s immune system working as a cure for numerous blood cancers.
In the lead-up to World Marrow Donor Day, celebrated on 17 September, the registry is launching an ‘out-of-this-world campaign’, which will see an actual star being named after a lucky donor once the registry reaches its target of 100 000 donor registrations.

SABMR deputy director Jane Ward says they consider each one of their almost 80 000 existing donors as stars.

“Much like stars that are born in the same cluster share similar chemical signatures, which help scientists track the stars they are related to, so our donor searches help us find genetic twins among humans that share matching

DNA, no matter where in the world they are,” said Ward.

“And just like a star falls to grant someone’s wish, people, whether family, friends or even strangers, make sacrifices to make another person’s wish come true. We are asking people to be a star in someone’s night sky by signing up to become a blood stem cell donor.”

According to Ward, to date, the SABMR has saved the lives of more than 600 South African patients. However, only 25% of these have come from SA.

Ward says when no local matches are found, they have to look abroad, which takes time and can become costly.

“Our patients don’t have the luxury of time. They suffer from life-threatening illnesses such as leukemia, lymphoma, aplastic anaemia and immune deficiency disorders that can claim their lives within the space of a few weeks or months.

“Less than half of blood stem cell transplants in the country are from donors in South Africa, while the vast majority have come from donors in Germany and America, as well as from 25 other countries.

“If we had a larger local donor pool, patients could be helped sooner, thereby increasing their chances of survival.” she added.

She says each donor that is added to the registry increases the probability of a patient finding a match.

“This September, we want to make the world shine a bit brighter for those afflicted with blood disorders. To become eligible for the star-naming, you can sign up to become a donor online or at any of our drives. Who knows, you may become our 1 in 100 000 Stem Cell Star.” She said.

To boost donor numbers this month, the SABMR will be hosting various events across the country. These include, physical donor drives, fun runs, celebrity-judged bake-offs and more.

For more info on these events and how you can get involved, visit https://sabmr.co.za/world-marrow-donor-day-wmdd/ or follow them on @sabonemreg

If you are between the ages of 16 and 45 and want to become a donor, contact the SABMR on 021 4478638 or email donors@sabmr.co.za

Financial donations can also be made via www.sabmr.co.za/donate

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