Mother's Day: Minority and Mixed-Race Donors--Step Right Up!

I've asked Older Son, who is Japanese, to sign up for the National Marrow Donor Program as a Mother's Day gift for me.

I know from my own writing and from people I've known that it can be extra difficult for a person who is mixed race or a minority to find a good match for a transplant.

So I e-mailed Susan Hamre at the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP) again, to get the latest info on this issue. Here's what she said:

Regarding the need for mixed race and minority people to register, the NMDP has made great strides, and the likelihood of finding a match has increased dramatically for patients from all racial and ethnic groups.

Nevertheless, because these traits are inherited, a patient's most successful match is with someone of the same heritage. The groups of individuals underrepresented on the Registry are American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and there is still a great need for donors of diverse ethnicities and backgrounds.

@ Jeanne Sather 2008.

Comments

[debutaunt]

Thanks Jeanne. It seems slow going at marrow.org at there have only been about 900 donors registered so far. Not very close to the 46k they want.

I did get a letter published in the SA Express News on Sat though. Can't believe our local blood center hasn't advertised at all. Not unusual.

[jeanne]

Wow. I can't believe that is all they got. Both sons were home yesterday, but we didn't go out to dinner because we were all too sad about GB. And I forgot to nail Older Son down on this. But we are having a make-up dinner together on Wednesday, so I will ask him then.

That's really too bad.