Young people boost donor numbers
Print Edition
There are 2 million potential donors registered with the China Marrow Donor Program, making China fourth in potential donors after the United States, Germany and Brazil, according to program vice director Gao Dongying.
“The current two million is remarkable, and the number will continue to rise,” said Chen Hu, a doctor with more than 30 years’ experience in bone marrow transplants.
Young people are the main force behind the growth, showing that they are ethical and responsible despite what the older generation might say, Chen said.
Chen works in the No. 307 Hospital of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in Beijing and performs more than 200 transplants every year.
By the end of 2014, China had performed transplants of hemopoietic stem cells (HSCs) — blood cells that give rise to all other blood cells — for 4,680 patients at home and overseas, according to the program.
Established in 1992, it has 31 provincial-level branches and 37 laboratories, and also collaborates with more than 100 hospitals in China.
Chen said China has a relatively high rate of registered HSC donors who later decide not to go through with the donation process. “We do not blame them at all. After all, it is a big move for people to do deeds for no reward,” said Chen.
Xu Liang, born in 1981, registered a blood sample with the program in 2004 after he met a leukemia patient who had failed to find a donor.
In 2006, Xu received a notice from the program’s Beijing branch that his HSCs matched a patient’s needs. Three months later, he donated his cells. The process involved lying still for three to four hours while a machine separated the HSCs from his blood.
“I did not feel much pain during the donation procedure. I went back to work after about a week’s rest, and my body fully recovered in a month,” Xu said.
Chen said the success rate of transplants is 95 percent and the full recovery rate following transplants is about 65 to 75 percent.
Medicine is usually imported and not covered by medical insurance and treatment takes a long time, Chen said.
“Our office provides free consulting services and tries its best to find matched HSCs. We are also trying to generate more efforts by the government to help those in need,” said Chen.
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