Halifax students help spark interest in stem cell donation

Right now there are at least 40 Canadians hoping that, somewhere, healthy young black men with their particular genetic markers will sign up to be stem cell donors.

To me, its not something you just think about, its something you do. Its pretty simple, says 18-year-old Emmanuel John.

The Grade 12 student at Halifax West was volunteering Monday at his high school, helping register potential donors and taking swabs.

You get a couple tests and you may be a potential donor, he said. If you are, you can potentially save someones life.

The registration and swab event was put on by Canadian Blood Services OneMatch Stem Cell and Marrow Network. The network tries to match donors with people suffering from blood diseases or cancers like sickle-cell anemia and leukemia, said OneMatch co-ordinator Hailu Mulatu.

There are 750 Canadians in need of a stem cell transplant, but African-Canadians who make up just under one per cent of registered potential donors are under-represented in the national registry, said Mulatu.

Finding a donor and patient match is very difficult. And, because patients and donors must share similar genetic markers, a successful match will only be found among people of the same ethnic origin. Only about 25 per cent of donors are found in a patients family.

Ideal candidates are healthy individuals ranging in age from 17 to 35. Men are more likely to be successful donors than women, Mulatu said.

Organizers chose African Heritage Month as a good time to raise the awareness of the need for more African-Canadian donors.

By noon Monday, the majority of students turning out to the registration event were female although they appeared to be from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds.

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Halifax students help spark interest in stem cell donation