Sabahans urged to donate stem cells

March 20, 2016

Story and picture by Olivia Miwil

KOTA KINABALU: The public is being urged to pledge themselves as stem cells donors to help patients with blood disorders.

Sabah Health director Dr Christina Rundi said the state had the highest cases of Thalassaemia in the country and the treatment involved stem cell transplantation.

"Due to differences in ethnicity and mixed marriages among the people, it is difficult to find donor with stem cells that match those patients. 

"Besides family members, donation can be made by non-related people provided that the human leukocyte antigens of stem cells is a match between donor and recipient," she said at the inaugural Stem Cell Transplant Awareness Forum at Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) here yesterday. 

There are only 169 Sabahans among the 26, 559 people registered with the Malaysian Stem Cell Registry. 

Stem Cell transplantation can be used to treat blood disorders such as leukaemia and severe aplastic anemia. 

There are six transplant centers in the country including Sabah Women and Children's hospital here. 

Since 2014, the hospital has conducted 11 hemopoietic stem cells transplants to children with blood disorders. 

The programme, which is organised by the hospital and UMS, also conducted registration and collection of saliva samples from pledgers. 

Stem cells can be sourced via the umbilical cord, bone marrow and peripheral blood.

Those who are eligible to donate should age between 18 and 50, and free from infection diseases or inherited disorders. 


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