For September and October, WCBS supported the South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR) through the Extra Drop initiative, where blood donors chose to forgo their donation gift, allowing WCBS to donate R15 to a carefully selected charity instead.
Read more about the Extra Drop Initiative here
The SABMR was established over 30 years ago and has grown to have a donor base of over 78,000 registered bone marrow stem cell donors, and partners with 76 international registries, giving access to another 43 million potential donors worldwide. Based in Cape Town, SABMR conveniently provides the WCBS Apheresis Unit with lists of local HLA-matched donors for designated single donor platelet collections requested by clinicians for patients with platelet antibodies.
For more information about the South African Bone Marrow Registry, visit their website https://sabmr.co.za/
On another note, listen in to Dr Caroline Hilton in The Life Blood Podcast #6, titled, ‘What Your Blood Group Says About You and Your Health’, as she unpacks questions received from blood donors. Access The Life Blood Podcast #6 on Spotify and YouTube.
For more information about blood donation-related initiatives, contact Marike Carli, Manager — Public Relations (Marike@wcbs.org.za).
