THE South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR) helps save the lives of children and adults with life-threatening blood disorders whose only chance of living is a bone marrow transplant.
This is achieved by conducting highly specialized local and international searches, to find suitably matched unrelated (non-family) donors for critically ill patients.
Bone marrow registers in different countries hold tissue type information of volunteers who have provided small blood samples for testing and recording.
Sadly, the chance of finding a matching donor is just 1 in 100 000!
The odds are even more against South African sufferers due to the fact that our rainbow nation has more unique combinations of tissue types. Ethnic origin is important when matching donors and patients. The “markers” that are tested when searching for a match are genetically inherited and often unique to a particular race.
It is therefore very important that South Africa has its own bone marrow registry and the larger that registry, the greater and faster the chance of finding a perfect match.
For more information and criteria to become a bone marrow stem cell donor click HERE.
Where to start?
* You need to call The Sunflower Fund Toll Free Number 0800 12 10 82 (weekdays 08:30 – 16:30) so that we can make sure that you meet the criteria, process your Sunflower / SABMR Registration Form and Reference Number and direct you to the closest Donor Recruitment Clinic.
* There you will give them the completed form and they will take a small blood sample – about two test tubes.
* Your blood sample is then analysed (called “tissue typing”) and put on the national database. The tissue typing test is very costly for The Sunflower Fund.
We pay R2000 for each blood test and depend largely on donations from the public. We do ask donors to consider donating generously towards the cost of the test. This frees up our funds to pay for more donors; the more donors on the Registry the better the chance patients have of finding a match.
There are 4 donation options: R350; R750; R1400 or R2000. If you are not able to make a donation you will be placed on our waiting list and when funds become available, we will sponsor the cost of your test and your form will be emailed to you.
* Donors will in due course be sent a donor card by the SABMR. Donors will only be called back to donate stem cells if they are ever a perfect match for a patient. The odds of being a match are about 1: 100 000 which is why we need as many donors as possible.
The donation procedure is minor with little discomfort – click here to read a full description of the whole procedure.
