Every year hundreds of South Africans with blood diseases such as leukaemia and bone marrow failure reach a stage where their only chance of survival is receiving a bone marrow stem cell transplant from a healthy donor.
A bone marrow transplant is a very unique procedure as an individual’s immune system is destroyed and replaced with one from an unrelated person in the general population who happens to be a perfect match.
Bone marrow is the tissue that produces red blood cells to carry oxygen, white blood cells to fight infection and platelets to prevent bleeding, all required to sustain life.
The transplanted cells taken from the donor replace the recipient’s cancerous cells that have been destroyed by chemotherapy and these healthy cells then produce the new red and white blood cells, as well as platelets.
Using an overseas donor is expensive and patients who cannot find a local donor may not be able to afford a bone marrow transplant from an international source, making their chance of survival slim.
Approximately 30% of patients find a match within their families whilst the other 70% rely on finding a match from an unrelated donor to provide them with the chance of survival.
The South African Bone Marrow Registry(SABMR) currently has 72 000 registered bone marrow donors on its database and the chance of finding a match for a patient diagnosed with a blood disease is one in 100 000, which makes South African based donor recruitment essential.
In South Africa there is a need for a large culturally diverse database of prospective stem cell donors in order for all patients to have the opportunity of finding a life-saving match.
More South African donors are needed to register to save more lives and SABMR is in desperate need of more Black donors.
"In 2015, there were 150 preliminary donor search requests for patients needing a bone marrow transplant. Fifty percent of the referrals were for patients who are Black, Coloured or Asian whilst only three out of the 25 patients transplanted in that year were in this group,” said Dr Charlotte Ingram, Medical Director of SABMR.
While blood diseases are not limited to age, gender or race, the ethnic background of a donor is crucial to finding the perfect match.
The ethnic origin of a match plays a significant role as a match is based on inherited genetic characteristics which are often associated with a particular race group and not on blood types.
Brenda Masuku, the youngest of eight children from a village in Mpumalanga, was the first Black South African to donate stem cells to an unrelated patient and described the experience as “life changing”.
“I am the only member of my family who has ever donated blood because it is not usual in Black South African culture to do so, let alone to become a stem cell donor. In 1999, a group of my colleagues were going to participate in a bone marrow drive for a South African boy who had leukaemia and they urged me to join them. Following my registration I changed jobs and cell phone numbers, making it impossible for the SABMR to contact me. One day I had an urge to call my previous boss to say ‘hi’ and I was taken aback when he told me the SABMR was attempting to locate me. If I had not called, the SABMR would never have reached me.”
Brenda meets the little girl whose life she saved by becoming a donor for the first time.
If a potential donor is identified in the preliminary stage then the search is activated. In this phase, more detailed testing will be arranged and if after the additional testing the donor is found to be suitable match, the patient can then proceed to transplantation.
The process of donating bone marrow:
- The donation procedure is minor with little discomfort.
- Similar to donating blood platelets, blood is drawn using a needle from one arm.
- The blood then gets filtered through a cell separator machine which deposits bone marrow stem cells into a bag.
- The rest of the blood is returned via a needle in the other arm.
- This process takes approximately four to six hours and might need to be done over two consecutive days.
- The bag of stem cells will then be used to perform the patient’s life-saving bone marrow stem cell transplant.
Donors for the SABMR are recruited by The Sunflower Fund. Should you wish to become a donor, please contact The Sunflower Fund on toll-free number: 0800 12 10 82 and visit www.sunflowerfund.org.za.
This year SABMR is celebrating 25 years of successfully securing bone marrow stem cell transplants for 383 patients.
“In the majority of cases, a patient diagnosed with a blood cancer only has a one in 100 000 chance of finding the perfect match. And this new year we appeal to you to help us save the lives of patients in need of a bone marrow transplant by making a financial contribution to the SABMR,” said Dr Ingram.
SABMR is "appealing" to you to be one of 1 000 people who will assist them in reaching the goal of raising R100,000 by making a once-off donation of R100.
You can make a donation by visiting the donations page on our website www.sabmr.co.za/donate/ or via EFT. Please use your name and the word life (ie: NameLife) as your reference.
You can save a life, become a bone marrow donor
Every year hundreds of South Africans with blood diseases such as leukaemia and bone marrow failure reach a stage where their only chance of survival is receiving a bone marrow stem cell transplant from a healthy donor.
A bone marrow transplant is a very unique procedure as an individual’s immune system is destroyed and replaced with one from an unrelated person in the general population who happens to be a perfect match.
Bone marrow is the tissue that produces red blood cells to carry oxygen, white blood cells to fight infection and platelets to prevent bleeding, all required to sustain life.
The transplanted cells taken from the donor replace the recipient’s cancerous cells that have been destroyed by chemotherapy and these healthy cells then produce the new red and white blood cells, as well as platelets.
Using an overseas donor is expensive and patients who cannot find a local donor may not be able to afford a bone marrow transplant from an international source, making their chance of survival slim.
Approximately 30% of patients find a match within their families whilst the other 70% rely on finding a match from an unrelated donor to provide them with the chance of survival.
The South African Bone Marrow Registry(SABMR) currently has 72 000 registered bone marrow donors on its database and the chance of finding a match for a patient diagnosed with a blood disease is one in 100 000, which makes South African based donor recruitment essential.
In South Africa there is a need for a large culturally diverse database of prospective stem cell donors in order for all patients to have the opportunity of finding a life-saving match.
More South African donors are needed to register to save more lives and SABMR is in desperate need of more Black donors.
"In 2015, there were 150 preliminary donor search requests for patients needing a bone marrow transplant. Fifty percent of the referrals were for patients who are Black, Coloured or Asian whilst only three out of the 25 patients transplanted in that year were in this group,” said Dr Charlotte Ingram, Medical Director of SABMR.
While blood diseases are not limited to age, gender or race, the ethnic background of a donor is crucial to finding the perfect match.
The ethnic origin of a match plays a significant role as a match is based on inherited genetic characteristics which are often associated with a particular race group and not on blood types.
Brenda Masuku, the youngest of eight children from a village in Mpumalanga, was the first Black South African to donate stem cells to an unrelated patient and described the experience as “life changing”.
“I am the only member of my family who has ever donated blood because it is not usual in Black South African culture to do so, let alone to become a stem cell donor. In 1999, a group of my colleagues were going to participate in a bone marrow drive for a South African boy who had leukaemia and they urged me to join them. Following my registration I changed jobs and cell phone numbers, making it impossible for the SABMR to contact me. One day I had an urge to call my previous boss to say ‘hi’ and I was taken aback when he told me the SABMR was attempting to locate me. If I had not called, the SABMR would never have reached me.”
Brenda meets the little girl whose life she saved by becoming a donor for the first time.
If a potential donor is identified in the preliminary stage then the search is activated. In this phase, more detailed testing will be arranged and if after the additional testing the donor is found to be suitable match, the patient can then proceed to transplantation.
The process of donating bone marrow:
- The donation procedure is minor with little discomfort.
- Similar to donating blood platelets, blood is drawn using a needle from one arm.
- The blood then gets filtered through a cell separator machine which deposits bone marrow stem cells into a bag.
- The rest of the blood is returned via a needle in the other arm.
- This process takes approximately four to six hours and might need to be done over two consecutive days.
- The bag of stem cells will then be used to perform the patient’s life-saving bone marrow stem cell transplant.
Donors for the SABMR are recruited by The Sunflower Fund. Should you wish to become a donor, please contact The Sunflower Fund on toll-free number: 0800 12 10 82 and visit www.sunflowerfund.org.za.
This year SABMR is celebrating 25 years of successfully securing bone marrow stem cell transplants for 383 patients.
“In the majority of cases, a patient diagnosed with a blood cancer only has a one in 100 000 chance of finding the perfect match. And this new year we appeal to you to help us save the lives of patients in need of a bone marrow transplant by making a financial contribution to the SABMR,” said Dr Ingram.
SABMR is "appealing" to you to be one of 1 000 people who will assist them in reaching the goal of raising R100,000 by making a once-off donation of R100.
You can make a donation by visiting the donations page on our website www.sabmr.co.za/donate/ or via EFT. Please use your name and the word life (ie: NameLife) as your reference.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Latest Videos