By Rhian Voskamp | Fundraising and Communication Coordinator
Over the past year, the World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) and our member, The South African Bone Marrow Donor Registry (SABMR) have been working hard to host the 14th International Donor Registry Conference (IDRC) and WMDA Meetings.
Education is an essential part of WMDA. We aim to share knowledge, expertise and best practices to increase the chance of patients finding their best stem cell source and reducing the time to transplant.
The theme of the 14th IDRC is all patients and donors matter. Sadly, for many patients needing a stem cell transplant to cure blood cancer or a blood disorder such as Sickle Cell Disease, there is not a matching donor available. As a community, we are determined to change this. However, as non-profits and charities, we do not have the financial resources to change this overnight. That is why we prioritise education.
We can share our knowledge, which has a ripple effect and reaches many healthcare professionals, who in turn can effect change in their own country and improve the outcome for their patients.
Next week, health professionals from 47 countries will come together to share knowledge, expertise and best practices. The most exciting part is that 12 countries are not WMDA members and are new to our community. These countries currently do not have donor registries, therefore the chance of their patients finding a matching donor is very small. Together, over the next days, weeks, months and years, we are going to change that and that is thanks to your support of WMDA over the past year.
To everyone who has donated, every penny, euro, dollar, shilling, rand will make a massive difference to patients everywhere and give families more hope. Thank you for making a life-saving difference!
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By Rhian Voskamp | Fundraising and Communication Coordinator
By Rhian Voskamp | Fundraising and Communication Coordinator
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