Every five minutes, someone in India is diagnosed with blood cancer or a blood disorder. Often a blood stem cell transplant from a matching donor is their last chance at survival. DKMS is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the fight against blood cancer. The organization has offices in Germany, the US, Poland, the UK, Chile and South Africa. In India, DKMS has founded the joint venture DKMS-BMST together with the Bangalore Medical Services Trust. International expansion and collaboration are key to helping patients worldwide because, like the organization itself, blood cancer knows no borders.
In 1991 Dr Peter Harf founded DKMS in Germany, motivated to find a matching donor for his wife Mechtild who was suffering from leukaemia. Though Mechtild ultimately could not survive, before she passed away she made Peter promise her that he would not stop fighting until every patient had a matching donor and a potential second chance at life. With over 11 million registered donors, DKMS has succeeded in providing more than 95,000 blood stem cell donations to patients in need, so far.
Read on to know how you can give hope to Indian patients by registering as a potential blood stem cell donor with DKMS-BMST.
DKMS-BMST has a mission to give as many blood cancer and blood disorder patients as possible a second chance at life!
India ranks third highest in reported cases of haematological cancers in the world and it remains one of the leading causes of cancer-related death among children as well. Despite the huge cancer burden, In India, only 0.04% of the total population is registered as a potential blood stem cell donor that is where DKMS-BMST is trying its best to help such patients by recruiting potential lifesavers and raising awareness about this noble cause.
In the last 2 years of its operation in India, DKMS-BMST has organized over 1200 donor registration events across various organizations such as corporates, educational institutes, hospitals and defence forces to spread awareness about blood stem cell donation and enrol more potential donors. So far, they have registered over 50,000 potential donors and helped 43 Indian patients with lifesaving blood stem cell donations.
But this is just the beginning! With your help, this number can increase considerably over the years to find a matching donor for every patient in need.
How Can You Register as A Potential Blood Stem Cell Donor With DKMS-BMST?
Any healthy individual between the age group of 18-50 can register by ordering the home swab kit at https://www.dkms-bmst.org/ctv. When you receive the kit, just sign on the prefilled consent form, swab the inside of your cheeks to collect tissue cells (there are instructions on the envelope that will be sent) and return the swab kit in the provided pre-paid envelope. DKMS laboratory will then analyze your tissue type and your pseudonymized details will be available in the global search for blood stem cell donors.
You could come up as a potential match within weeks of registering, or perhaps it might take years. There is a chance that you may never be called, but there is also the chance that, if you do get called, you are the ONLY one who can save that patient’s life.
If you come up as a potential match for someone, DKMS-BMST will contact you immediately. After a confirmatory typing and health check your blood stem cells will be obtained from the bloodstream using a process called peripheral blood stem cell donation. This is a safe, non-surgical process that is similar to blood platelet donation.
DKMS-BMST aims to defeat blood cancer, and you too can be part of this mission to give second chances at life to patients. And it all starts with a simple step, to register as a blood stem cell donor.
Visit https://www.dkms-bmst.org/ctv today to save a life!