ONE YEAR OF COVID-19 | South Africans show their compassion despite adversity

The Covid-19 lockdown is often associated with adversity, including the crumbling economy and joblessness, but on the upside it looks like South Africans have become more compassionate, and have been signing up in droves to become stem cell donors to help others.

The Sunflower Fund, which partnered with an international bone marrow donor centre, DKMS, early last year, said during the past year it saw a 230% increase or additional 9,000 people registering to become donors – giving hope that South Africans are finally warming up to the idea of charity. The fund usually registers only 3,000 potential donors a year.

CEO of the Sunflower Fund partnered by DKMS, Alana James, said this ground-breaking feat in the wake of the pandemic was a combination of generosity from South Africans, the partnership with a global company, and the registration of stem cell registration switching to an online platform as event teams could no longer visit communities and schools to do recruitment.

“Despite the various challenges brought on by the pandemic and lockdowns, people continued to show amazing empathy and compassion,” said James.

“We moved our recruitment drive online by way of an online registration platform which was amplified using social media and influencers. A swab kit was then couriered to the donor and the tests were completed in the safety and comfort of their homes. Following this, the kits were collected and delivered to our offices. This is a process we are still using today,” she said. 

Last year, DKMS alone celebrated more than 10 million registered donors and facilitated 90,000 patient donor matches. “As such, we are confident that we will achieve even more as we forge ahead with expanded teams, increased investment and a global network with more muscle. Along with this, we are particularly proud that our registry makes it possible for people of African descent to be represented in this highly collaborative and much-needed effort."

Every 27 seconds, someone is diagnosed with a blood disease, and for many of these patients, their only chance of survival is a transplant from a matching donor.

Despite hundreds of South Africans living with blood diseases such as leukaemia and bone marrow failure, the chances of finding a bone marrow match for these patients was 1 in 100,000, making South African-based donor recruitment essential. SA had less than 100,000 registered bone marrow donors on its database - a drop in the ocean compared to the demand for bone marrow transplants.

People of colour had less than a 17% chance of finding a matching donor, due to the underrepresentation of diversity on the global donor database.

“We work closely with our patients, their families and their communities to support recruitment efforts. We focus on awareness across the country, to dispel many of the misconceptions and fears about stem cell donation," said James.

“Our patients and their families are at the heart of what we do, and as such, we endeavour to continue to provide them with holistic support from the point of their search request to the conclusion of their transplant journey and beyond. In 2021 and beyond, we are confident that we will be able to continue this upward trajectory and look forward to saving more lives with the help of our fellow South Africans." 

TimesLIVE