Bone marrow donation
Short Description of CBMDP
Questions and Answers
The problem
Every 4' minutes someone is diagnosed with blood cancer, most commonly acute leukaemia (the most common cancer among children). Most of these patients can be cured with a life saving bone marrow transplantation but finding a matching donor is very difficult, one in a million difficult in fact. Common ethnic origin increases the chances of fi nding a match. Unfortunately, Greece holds one of the lowest percentages of volunteer donors per population (0.3 % of population, as opposed to other countries, like e.g. Cyprus where 1 in 8 is a potential donor) and many blood cancer patients of Hellenic o rigin lose the battle because they cannot find their life saving donor.
Why is the Hellenic Bone Marrow Donor poll so small?
Lack of public awareness and scarcity of donor registration location points are two of the main factors contributing in poor donor enlistment, on a local and national scale. Few people know that can become a donor very easily by offering some saliva and if matched, they can save a life by donating some of their cells from their blood. Most people still erroneously think that donation needs anaesthesia and is a painful procedure.
What is the mission of CBMDP “Save a life”
CBMDP - “Save a Life” was established in order to cover a gap created by the existing weak public structures in volunteer bone marrow donor recruitment in Greece. CBMDP "Save a Life" put in action a recruitment policy built upon a) creation of hubs on a nationwide level, aiming to penetrate local communities and recruit volunteers on location (e.g. at their workplace) and b) promotion of public awareness activities. Under the supervision and regulatory guidance of the Hellenic Transplant Organization, the Centre evolved into one of the leading coordinator s of public awareness initiatives in Greece and a main communication channel with the international community (count ing today 30 million volunteers globally). As a donor recruitment centre for the provision of grafts to c ancer patients, CBMDP counts > 60,000 volunteer donors in its database, enlisting an average of 1,500 new donors/month through its large network of col laborations around Greece (>83 recruitment hubs). This has resulted in the provision of >100 grafts to patients in Greece and abroad since 2013, with a sharp increase of provided grafts/year.
What is the goal of CBMDP
In a recent study undertaken by the University of Patras, it was estimated that a Greek bone marrow donor pool of 250,000 volunteers would offer patients of Hellenic Origin an >6 0% chance of finding a match donor and get the potentially life saving transp lant. Building on its successful operational model and accumulated know how of the past years, our Centre aims to enlist 15 0,000 new more donors in the next three years, which will sharply increase the chances for patients of Greek origin the world all ove r to find their match.
What is needed to reach this goal
Donor recruitment is strictly dependent on the available funds for HLA tissue typing. Already, 15 .000 samples are not typed yet because of funding CBMDP as part of the GEMS (Group of European Medium Size) Registries performs the HLA of its donors at Histogenetics/ New York (http://histogenetics.com) with the lowest price worldwide (€20 /donor , for comparison the price in Greece would be about 220/donor ). The supporters may transfer the money directly to “Histogenetics” Lab. Payment is in US Dollars and VAT is exempted. CBMDP sends a letter to our donors informing them that they are included in the worldwide donor pool indicating the supporter who helped us typing his.
Name & Contact details
- · Name in Greek : Κέντρο Προσέλκυσης και Ενημέρωσης Εθελοντών Δοτών Μυελού των Οστών Πανεπιστημίου Πατρών (ΚΕΔΜΟΠ) - Χάρισε Ζωή
- · Name in English: Centre to Advance Public Awareness and Recruitment of Bone Marrow Donor Volunteers University of Patras (CBMDP) - Save a Life
- · Legal Representative: Prof. Alexandros Spyridonidis, Medical Director.
- · Address: Pre clinical Building (Room K25.00.4 8 , Ground Floor ), School of Medicine, University of Patras, University Campus Rio, 26504 Patras, Greece
- · Tel: +30 2610 997510, Fax: +30 2610 997 667, 24h emergency mobile: +30 697 7448977, Hotline Tel for donors : +30 2610 969164
- · Email: cbmdpatras upatras gr (administrative), donorsearch upatras gr (registry, donor searches), xarisezoi @upatras.gr
- · Website: www.xarisezoi.gr
- · Facebook: www.facebook.com/cbmdpatras
- · Youtube: www. youtube.com/channel/UCmm7bS53Z3Jt6DF7m2x8sbw
Activities of CBMDP
- · Donor recruitment: Raises public awareness about stem cell donation through di fferent ways (including media), organizes donor recruitment campaigns, promotes media publicity, develops social media activities.
- · Donor registration: performs HLA typing and lists donors in BMDW
- · Searches for the matched donor national and international patients
- · Procurement of stem cell grafts for national and international patients
- · Hosting of donors in its interna tional networking (BMDW, WMDA, EMDIS) from other donor centers in Greece
