‘Blood stem cell donation can cure 100 ailments’

Chennai

How many have been registered so far with DATRI so far?

DATRI is an NGO, acting as a registry for the donation. At the moment, we have more than a lakh registered with us. We have carried out intense drives and awareness campaigns for spreading the message. We have facilitated more than a 100 peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donations since our inception in 2009.

What have been the challenges in creating awareness?

A country like India with a population over one billion, there are very few registered blood stem cell donors. With increasing cases of fatal blood disorders, there is an increasing need for more donors. The most common misconceptions are that blood stem cell donation makes you weak and there are side effects.  Neither of it is true; enough care is taken to ensure none of the above happens.

What are the states that lead in blood stem cell donation? What are your future plans?

Kerala at the moment tops the chart, as we had a huge awareness drive conducted in the state. Other states in the top five are Tamil Nadu, Andhra, Karnataka and Gujarat. We are working on taking the message across to villages and towns alike.