Over 50 registered with DATRI for blood stem cell donation

LUCKNOW: A non-profit organisation and adult unrelated blood stem donor registry, DATRI, organised a special camp on the occasion of Shaheedi of Guru Gobind Singh ji at Gurudwara Chander Nagar here on Monday.

Over 50 volunteer donors of the city registered as volunteer blood stem cell donors to help save lives.

Speaking on the cause, Gurpreet Singh Chadda, spokesperson, Gurudwara Chander Singh, said, “We are happy to support DATRI to help find match donor for patients suffering with fatal disorders like blood cancer and thalassemia.”

“The only hope of survival for such patients is a blood stem cell transplant. For patients, who are unable to find a match within their family, there is no hope. It is only with help of registries like DATRI that gives a ray of hope to such patients. We will continue our support by organising multiple drives in Lucknow,” Singh said.

DATRI has received good response from colleges and coaching centres in Lucknow where 150 students registered during a camp held this month. “Around 96 students registered during a two camps held at IIM Lucknow and 110 at TS Mishra College of Nursing during a drive. So far, over 1350 volunteer donors have registered in Lucknow,” Singh said.

Patients suffering with blood cancer or children with thalassemia would first try to find a match within their family and there are only 25% chances to find a match among the family members.

“Else such patients have to look out for a perfect match from a registry like DATRI. As of now, the probability of finding a HLA matched donor is only one in 10,000 to one in over a million, as the total number of volunteer donors registered are very low,” Singh said.