Programme helps childhood cancer patients gain access to life-saving therapy

CAPE TOWN - Marking International Childhood Cancer Day (ICCD) on Tuesday, a pilot programme has been launched to enable South African paediatric blood cancer and blood disorder patients in need of a stem cell donor, access to potentially life-saving therapy.

DKMS Africa in partnership with Be the Match USA, is assisting eight state patients aged between 0 and 18 years in need of a blood stem cell transplant from an unrelated volunteer donor with receiving life-saving treatment.

Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and the Steve Biko Academic Hospital, along with their highly skilled experts, will take part in the programme.

“We support everyday recognition for cancer and blood cancer, that is why we have partners across the board. We encourage South Africans to register because we have many South Africans who have not found their donor match,” said DKMS Africa executive director Alana James.

While many patients depend on a stem cell donation from an unrelated donor, the search for essentially a “genetic twin” is like finding a needle in a haystack.

Donors of South African origin have unique tissue (HLA) characteristics that are severely under-represented in the global database. In this respect, South Africa’s rainbow nation is at a distinct disadvantage, requiring a large pool of prospective donors.

“In many instances the only hope that a blood disorder or blood cancer patient has is a blood stem cell transplant. We believe that efforts to expand access to bone marrow transplantation to more South African children need to be prioritised,” Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital paediatric oncologist Professor Alan Davidson said.

Overall, costs can range from R115 000 for a local donor to about R1 million for a non-DKMS donor.

While South Africa’s public healthcare system fully covers the cost for the blood stem cell transplantation for patients who have found a matching donor within their family, DKMS and Be The Match will bridge this gap for patients without medical aid who cannot afford the donor-related costs that are not covered by the public healthcare system to provide them with a second chance at life.

DKMS and Be The Match are starting the programme in South Africa with the hope of expanding it soon.

For more information, visit: https://www.dkms-africa.org/

To become a donor, visit: https://www.dkms-africa.org/register-now

Cape Times