Every 35 seconds someone somewhere in the world is diagnosed with a blood disorder. A stem cell or bone marrow transplant, is often the only hope of a cure for patients with blood disorders like Leukaemia, sickle cell disease and Thalassaemia to name but a few.
In order to have a successful transplant, a patient needs a donor with the same genetic characteristics as them. There is only a 30% chance that a family member might be a match. The remaining 70% chance is that a stranger somewhere in the world might be a perfect match.
To curb the challenges that Covid-19 has placed on the recruitment of donors, The Sunflower Fund partnered by DKMS has rolled out their online registration platform. Individuals interested in registering can now visit www.sunflowerfund.org and click register to complete the process online. A swab kit will then be couriered to you, so you can register as a donor without leaving your home.
Individuals between 18 and 55 years can register as donors. If you have a consistent weight of more than 50kg and a BMI of less than 40 you could be eligible to register.
It only takes two swabs on the inside of your cheek to register as a donor and the online health screening takes less than 10 minutes to complete.
“With Mandela Day being all about using our collective power to create a global movement for good towards humanity, we would like urge South Africa to use their 67 minutes to help us grow our registry in South Africa,” says Kim Webster Head of Communications at The Sunflower Fund partnered by DKMS.
“It takes about 7 minutes to register, and in one hour you can mobilise your networks to follow suit and become one of more than 32 million people globally committed to saving lives of patients with blood disorders,” Webster continued.
“We all have the power to save a life, all it takes is a decision to just take action,” Webster concluded.
Visit www.sunflowerfund.org and register as a stem cell donor today or call 0800 12 10 82.