Partnership aims to boost stem cell donations and save patients
THE Sunflower Fund has joined forces with the largest network of stem cell donor centres in the world, DKMS, to provide as many patients as possible with different forms of blood disorders a second chance at life.
The non-profit organisations have formed a partnership and will collaborate as “The Sunflower Fund partnered by DKMS”.
The Sunflower Fund and DKMS were both founded from the personal stories of families losing a loved one, who committed to using their experience to champion the cause of stem cell donation to help other families in the same position.
Every five minutes someone in South Africa is diagnosed with blood cancer or other life-threatening blood disorders such as Thalassemia, according to a clinical haematologist at Albert Alberts Stem Cell Transplant Centre, Dr David Brittain.
“For many of these patients their only hope of cure is a stem cell transplant from a matching donor,” he said.
Only one third of patients find a matching donor in their own family.
The majority therefore depend on an unrelated donor, whose relevant tissue characteristics, or HLA-characteristics, match those of the patient as closely as possible.
Tissue characteristics are influenced by ethnic background and vary according to genetics and region, making finding a match far more complex than matching blood types.
“A successful blood stem cell transplant needs an HLA tissue match.
Globally doctors activate searches on a daily basis for donors to save their patients’ lives.
“A donor match could come from anywhere in the world,” Brittain said.
The Sunflower Fund and DKMS joining forces will enable the registration of as many potential blood stem cell donors as possible from the most diverse ethnic backgrounds.
With almost 10 million available donors and nearly 85 000 transplants facilitated, DKMS is the largest network of donor centres in the world.
About 40% of all unrelated blood stem cell transplants worldwide have been made possible by DKMS donors.
“We are very excited about the partnership,” said Sunflower Fund chief executive Alana James.
“Growing the diversity of the donor pool is critically important and we see a fantastic opportunity to be able to do this together, not only in South Africa but also in other African
countries. We want to register as many potential donors as possible to provide as many patients as possible with a second chance at life. This is our common mission.”
Now in its 20th year, The Sunflower Fund brings a wealth of expertise in the recruitment of stem cell donors with donors from across South Africa, Namibia, Ghana and Nigeria. The organisation also maintains a patient support fund to assist patients who are unable to afford costs associated with a transplant.
“Every life saved is a success. We are driven by a simple ethos: to best serve our patients, we cannot simply address the problem at hand, but must look to the future to anticipate the needs of the people whose lives rely on our work,” said DKMS chief executive, Dr Elke Neujahr.