World Marrow Donor Day to be Celebrated Worldwide on September 17th
The World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA), a global association of blood stem cell, marrow, and/or cord blood registries or organizations representing over 40 million blood stem cell donors from 55 different countries (https://statistics.wmda.info/), announces the celebration of the 8th World Marrow Donor Day (WMDD) on September 17, 2022. Following the past seven years of successful celebrations of this special day, the world again will come together on the third Saturday of September. The primary purpose is to thank all donors and highlight global cooperation in blood stem cell transplantation.
“The World Marrow Donor Association was established 28 years ago to ensure that donations of stem cells by altruistic volunteers could find their way to the patients who needed them, independent of geography and politics. World Marrow Donor Day is the embodiment of the value, respect and indeed love we in the transplantation community (and particularly the patients suffering from life-threatening diseases and their families) offer to our donors. It is only one day but it reflects what we think year-round in a concentrated way.” – Jeff Szer, Past President of the WMDA.
Background
Since the first bone marrow transplant performed in the 1950s, over a million patients have received a transplant of blood stem cells for the treatment of a wide variety of blood cancers and other diseases of the blood and bone marrow. Often, transplantation using healthy cells from a donor or cord blood unit may be the only chance of cure. When there is no suitable donor within the family, an unrelated donor, who could be from a completely different part of the world, may be the best match for the patient. The WMDA’s global network of organizations makes cooperation and a global exchange of information possible. This strong collaboration has helped hundreds of thousands of patients internationally.
FACT plans to participate in this special day to honor the donors that have saved lives around the world. We encourage our accredited organizations to also celebrate World Marrow Donor Day to express their appreciation. See https://worldmarrowdonorday.org/stories/ for patient and donor stories.
About World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA)
Worldwide, over 50,000 patients per year are looking for a matched donor outside their family. About 50% of the patients that find a donor find his or her perfectly matched donor in another country. WMDA works towards a global standardization by establishing an accreditation program for organizations that provide blood stem cells for patients in need of a transplant. The accreditation program ensures the welfare of the donors and high-quality stem cells for patients worldwide.
To learn more about WMDD or WMDA, visit their websites: www.worldmarrowdonorday.org or www.wmda.info.
