DATRI to launch nation-wide blood stem cell donor drive from tomorrow

Chennai

Apart from this, thousands of people suffering from various types of blood cancer and blood-related disorders were looking for a life saver.

But the real fact is that only one in 10,000 and one in two million Indians, find a genetically matched donor, making it imperative to create a large database of willing blood stem cell donors.

In a bid to create awareness on stem cell donation, DATRI, India's largest blood stem cell donors registry, today announced a week-long nation-wide blood stem celldonor campaign 'Get Set Go Orange' from tomorrow during World Cancer Day in an attempt to increase its existing database of potential blood stem cell donors.

The campaign will go on till February seven across Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, Delhi.  

In Chennai, donor drives would be conducted in Anna University and Ethiraj College on February three and four respectively.



Donor drives will also be conducted in Arjun College, Coimbatore on February two  followed by a cycling event to raise awareness in the same city on February seven.

The DATRI volunteers present at the venue will perform a simple buccal swab on willing donors, for registration. The samples will be sent for genetic typing, results of which will be stored in DATRI's database for future reference.

A release from DATRI here said rapidly evolving lifestyle has resulted in increasing incidences of cancer, particularly blood cancer, leading to more patients looking for donors through registries like DATRI.

However, lack of awareness on stem cell transplant and unjustified apprehensions have led to way less than one per cent of the Indian population being registered as blood stem cell donors.

Despite DATRI having more than 1,12,000 registered donors, less than 200 patients have been able to find a matched donor, while there were 1000s awaiting a match.

"With increasing population and cancer incidences, there is a huge need for more donors to come forward and register. More donors will invariably lead to increased chances of survival for blood cancer patients", the release said.

With only a 25 per cent chance of finding a genetic match from within the family, many patients have to rely on unrelated voluntary blood stem donors.

The release said only one in 10,000 to one in two million Indians find a genetically matched donor, driving the need to create a large database of willing blood stem cell donors.

While some patients have been fortunate enough to find a donor of their match, other blood cancer patients have not been so lucky.

The release said fatal blood disorders like Leukaemia, Thalassaemia, Aplastic Anaemia, which affects hundreds of children and adults every year, could be cured through a blood stem cell transplant from a genetically matched donor.

DATRI has over 1,12,000 registered donors with 20,241  donors registered from Tamil Nadu.

"With ethnicity playing an important role in finding a suitable match, increasing the existing database with donors from across states will go a long way in helping potential recipients from different regions", the release added.

Calling out for voluntary blood stem cell donors, Mr Raghu Rajagopal, CEO and Co-founder of DATRI said ''Get Set Go Orange'' is to encourage potential  donors across all major cities in India to come forward  and register.

"This simple act of giving is perhaps the best gift for someone suffering from a fatal blood disorder like Leukaemia or Lymphoma. Every individual out there has the power to gift a life and we hope that through this campaign we will be able to find life-saving heroes for patients awaiting a cure", he added.