National Guard Health Affairs launches the first Saudi Bone Marrow Donor Registry
National Guard Health Affairs launched the first Saudi Bone Marrow Donor Registry (SBMDR); this is the first project of its kind in the region due to the lack of similar registries in Arab world. However, there are more than 60 bone marrow donor registries all over the world including more than 16 million donors.
King Abdullah International Medical Research Center has adopted the idea of launching this project under the support of Dr. Bandar Al Knawy, Chief Executive Officer, National Guard Health Affairs, President, King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences based on regulatory actions corresponding to international standards, in addition to developing an integrated quality system for this registry.
The Saudi Bone Marrow Donor Registry will provide a large database of Bone Marrow donors to facilitate finding those donors for patients suffering from incurable diseases such as Leukemia and genetic diseases e.g. sickle cell anemia,thalassemia, genetic immune deficiency diseases and especially for those patients who do not have a donor from their family or relatives.
Dr. Mohammed Al Jumah, Executive Director, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center (KAIMRC) pointed out that the Saudi Bone Marrow Donor Registry has been certified by Ethics Committee - King Abdulaziz Medical City, National Guard and is ready to receive donors. The donor simply needs to answer some health-related questions, sign the approval for registration then give a small blood sample for tissue compatibility test; all results will be processed confidentially. If a suitable donor is found, he/she will be called in and after his/her consent, a blood sample will be taken to be checked for viral and infectious diseases in addition to performing tissue matching tests for confirmation. After that, the donor will be asked whether he/she prefers to donate stem cells through peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) or bone marrow with the emphasis on the confidentiality of the identity of the donor.
Moreover, this registry will be a national registry will specifically target Saudis due to their unique tissue compatibility. However, this registry will not be limited to Saudi nationally only, but it will be a registry for all who need it without any discrimination regardless to age or sex.
Dr. Mohamed Al Jumah confirmed that there will be a donor registration and detailed pamphlets about the Saudi Bone Marrow Donor Registry will be distributed in the National Guard Health Affairs section in the upcoming festival for national heritage and folk cultural festival (Janadriyah).