DKMS BMST Foundation India calls for increased awareness on stem cell transplants

Urges the importance of registering as a potential stem cell donor

DKMS BMST Foundation India has called for an increased awareness of blood stem cell donation and how important it is to register as a potential stem cell donor. 

Patrick Paul, CEO, DKMS BMST Foundation India, stated, “Only 0.04 per cent of Indians are registered as stem cell donors. This means the chances of Indian patients finding a matching unrelated donor are one in a million. This leaves thousands of them on a waitlist for years as they cannot find donors, mostly due to the lack of their ethnic representation on the worldwide stem cell donor database. To address this disparity and save more lives, it is crucial to register a larger number of potential stem cell donors from India. With a population of over 1.42 billion and a rising incidence of blood cancer, thalassemia, and aplastic anaemia, the need for Indian stem cell donors has never been greater.”