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Overview

We need volunteers to join the Register as a bone marrow donor and help enhance the chances of matching leukaemia and other blood-related diseases with compatible donors.

If you are between the ages of 17 to 49, in good health and fully understand the implications of bone marrow donation, we invite you to register as a potential bone marrow donor. A few drops of blood extracted by a prick on finger or a buccal swab from the side of your mouth will be drawn for testing of HLA* type. This initial testing is done on blood and not bone marrow.

*HLA stands for Human Leukocyte Antigens. This refers to the white blood cell (leucocyte) blood group. Just as red blood cells have A, B and O group, white blood cells have the HLA types and the success of a transplant depends mainly on HLA matching. There are at least 6 important HLA groups for bone marrow transplantation. Each of these groups in turn may have hundreds to thousands of variations. Hence there is a need to have as many donors in the bone marrow Register as possible to offer the best chance of finding a match.