Blood banks target regulars to donate bone marrow

Dubai: The UAE is seeking to increase its bone marrow donor list of 11 by targeting blood donors, the group of residents most likely to donate their bone marrow.

The UAE recently became the 43rd country and the first Arab country to join the Bone Marrow Donors Worldwide (BMDW) registry, which compiles donors around the world in a single database, helping blood disorder patients find a match.

The Emirates Bone Marrow Donor Registry has 11 people listed, six of whom are nationals.

Dr Ameen Bin Hussain Al Amiri, head of the Emirates Bone Marrow Donor Registry, told Gulf News that medical staff at UAE blood banks would "approach and encourage" blood donors into also donating their bone marrow.

"We are approaching all of them, especially the regular donors, who are safe," he said.

He added that about 70,000 people donate their blood annually, 60 per cent of whom donate blood regularly.

People interested in becoming a bone marrow donor will get their tissue typed through their blood sample. The results are then included in the database, accessible to bone marrow patients.

More than 10.3 million donors are registered in the BMDW database, according to its website.

Bone marrow transplantation is the only cure for diseases of the blood and bone marrow, including leukaemia and thalassemia, a genetic blood disorder requiring frequent transfusions.

Dr Al Amiri acknowledged that getting people to donate their bone marrow was not as easy as getting people to donate their blood. However, he said he would try hard as it was important to compile a large database of bone marrow donors here.

"We should now encourage people to become bone marrow donors. It is not easy but it is not impossible. You know Mission: Impossible? This is Mission: Possible," he said.

He added having and being able to access a large list of bone marrow donors was important since thalassemia was a big concern in the UAE.

Thalassemia is one of the most common blood disorders here, with one out of 12 nationals carrying the gene for the disease.

"This way they can find a donor without waiting three to six months for donor results and losing millions and millions of dirhams [in medical costs while trying to find a match]."

Services to come under one body

Blood banks and centres in the UAE will soon come under one independent body that will oversee the management of transfusion services in the country.

Dr Ameen Hussain Al Amiri, director of the Blood Transfusion and Research Services department at the Ministry of Health, told Gulf News the UAE Blood Transfusion Institute would integrate all blood centres in the UAE.

"The blood transfusion institute will integrate all centres, which belong to the different health authorities in the UAE," he said. Blood banks are currently administered by three health authorities, depending on location: the Abu Dhabi General Authority, Dubai Department of Health and Medical Services and the Ministry of Health.

"Once we have the institute, we can have an indepenedant budget and authority to manage blood practices in the country," Dr Al Amiri added.