Are you a match? Register to be a Donor
Bone marrow transplants continue to be an important Aplastic Anemia Treatment. If you are in Canada, read this article.
A better chance to find a match
Blood donors can now register online, use mail-in swab kits
By JOHN GILLIS Health Reporter
Fri. Feb 29 - 7:11 AMFINDING A match for a person who needs donated blood, cells or marrow can be like finding a needle in a haystack.
Now potential donors can better a sick person’s odds without getting needles themselves.At Canadian Blood Services’ new website onematch.ca, people can register to be donors and be mailed a cheek swab kit. Donors can then take swabs and mail them back to have their DNA entered in a database.
Each new registrant could be a match for a person anywhere in the world. Sue Smith, executive director of the OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network, said it’s especially important that people from different ethnic communities join the registry.
“The face of Canada is changing dramatically," she said in a news release. “The more diverse OneMatch is, the better the odds to save lives."
While Caucasians in Canada who need stem cell transplants have about a 75 per cent chance of finding a donor, aboriginal, black, Chinese, South Asian and Filipino Canadians don’t stand as good a chance because there aren’t enough available donors from those communities.
It is more likely a donor will come from a person’s own community.
Ifeoma Obi, who immigrated to Canada from Nigeria, has sickle cell disease and requires regular blood transfusions.
“I want to personally thank people for helping me enjoy a better quality of life," Ms. Obi said in a release.
“And I want them to encourage their friends and family to become blood donors so that they too can save a life like mine."
People with sickle cell or aplastic anemia need donors who are precisely matched.
Canadian Blood Services, the Health Association of African Canadians and the United African-Canadian Women’s Association Sickle Cell Anemia Project held a special clinic Thursday to attract donors.
Source: NovaScotiaNews.com
