60% of bone marrow transplants are performed thanks to donations from people outside the family. This is why the Biomedicine Agency is looking for 18,000 new donors.
Donating your bone marrow is giving a chance to heal people with serious diseases such as leukemia, lymphomas or certain blood diseases. That is to say around 2,000 people in France. The Biomedicine Agency is organizing this week a mobilization in favor of bone marrow donation. She wants to recruit 18,000 new donors, with diverse genetic profiles. Because nearly 60% of bone marrow transplants are performed from donors who are not part of the family.
At 1er January, the French register counted more than 221,400 potential donors, the objective being to reach 240,000 donors by the end of 2015. The probability of finding two compatible individuals outside the siblings is 1 chance in 1 million. This is why each new registration brings an additional chance of recovery for the sick. Medical and pharmacy students join in this mobilization. Thus, 33 faculties will inform the general public and answer the questions that arise.
Be under 51 and be in good health
Because donating your bone marrow is not as simple as donating blood. So what exactly is it? First of all, to be able to be a donor, you must be in perfect health, be over 18 and under 51, agree to answer a health questionnaire and have a blood test. Often the bone marrow is confused with the spinal cord. Bone marrow harvesting is not done in the spine, but in the surface area of the posterior bones of the pelvis. There is therefore no risk of being paralyzed! Finally, when compatibility with a patient is found, it takes on average between one and three months, a period during which additional examinations are carried out, and which makes it possible to prepare for the donation.
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