For most patients diagnosed with a blood disorder and in need of a bone marrow transplant, finding a matching bone marrow is a Herculean task. While some find a matching bone marrow from a sibling or a relative, for others the search does not seem to end.
To help those needing matching bone marrow, the Bangalore Medical College Alumni Association is establishing a bone marrow registry. “Unlike the relatively simple blood group matching before blood transfusions, bone marrow transplants require matching a patient’s human leukocyte antigen (HLA) profile with the potential donors to determine the most suitable match,” said Srinivasa Gowda, a pathologist who is part of the alumni association.
The alumni of the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) have launched the project to establish a bone marrow registry after a colleague of theirs died as he did not get a matching bone marrow. Although there are a few registries that have attempted something similar, this ambitious project aims to have one million committed donors of the Indian and South Asian origin in the registry. The plan is to network the registry with similar entities across the world. To achieve their objective, Dr. Srinivasa Gowda said they plan to visit colleges and corporate houses to encourage people to become potential donors by becoming a part of the registry.
P.K. Devadas, Dean and Director of the BMRCI, said that once the bone marrow registry becomes a reality, it will become easy to get a matching donor, and that will be a boon for blood cancer patients, and related diseases.
By the year-end they want to have a registry of 10,000 donors. They have already collected around 600 blood samples from people who participated in 15 camps across the city.
