A Stem Cells Awareness Campaign held in King Abdulaziz University– Jeddah concluded its events to highlight the role of stem cells in saving the lives of patients with incurable diseases under the slogan "register with us and save lives". The campaign, that lasted for a week, was organized by King Abdullah International Medical Research Center in collaboration with King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences - Jeddah, represented by the Deanship of Student Affairs. It attracted academic, faculty members along with students who are keen on this great humanitarian medical issue. This vital campaign was a cooperation between King Abdulaziz University - Jeddah and the Ministry of National Guard – Health Affairs to spread awareness and promote contributing to the treatment of many serious and incurable diseases through SMS and e-mails.
On this occasion, Executive Director of King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, Dr. Ahmed Al Askar pointed out that that the donation is only a possibility in the event of tissue matching donor, and joining the Saudi Stem Cells Donor Registry requires taking a blood sample from which the genetic connective tissue will be extracted and then registered in the Registry’s database in registry, which currently has 15,000 registered donors, willing to donate their stem cells kingdom wide; this number however is relatively low compared to international stem cells registries.
Dr. Ahmed Al Askar also added that this campaign targeted college students to raise awareness in the community,
drawing attention to the importance of donating stem cells, not to mention encouraging students to enroll in the registry database to help cure blood cancer and genetic diseases to help those who don’t have family matching donors. During the campaign in King Abdulaziz University, we were able to receive more than 970 registered donors. Additionally, the registry will also help patients to get the stem cell treatment locally without having to travel abroad for treatment.
Last but not least, Dr. Ahmed Al Askar also pointed out that in order to be a donor, you have to be between 18 and 49 years old and medically a suitable donor. In addition, Saudi Arabia have joined the international stem cell registry in 2013, which allowed searching for matching donors in the global records, as it includes (26) million donors, including donors from Saudia Arabia.
For more details, you may contact us through this email: SSCDR@ngha.med.sa or through the Twitter account @SSCDR1 .