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December 15 2020

Be The Match®, an organization that works globally to provide a cure for patients battling blood cancers and other blood disorders, recently announced a partnership with the South African Bone Marrow Registry (SABMR) to assist with recruiting new donors in Africa. This collaborative partnership aims to increase the number of ethnically diverse donors in South Africa.

The SABMR is the largest donor registry in Africa. It is an internationally recognized registry that is fully accredited by the World Marrow Donor Association (WDMA) and has been in operation for over 30 years.

“We are honored and excited to be partnering with another organization that is also committed to our life-saving mission,” said Erica Jensen, Senior Vice President of Member Engagement, Enrollment and Experience for Be The Match. “Working with global partners such as the SABMR is one of the best ways we can continue to increase the diversity of the registry and achieve equal outcomes for all of the patients we serve.”

Be The Match will partner with the SABMR to expand their operations by:

  • Sharing global best practices in the blood stem cell transplant field through knowledge-sharing and virtual training sessions.
  • Improving internal systems that will make it easier for donors to register, leading to an exponential growth in donor applications.
  • Providing access to other international registries for learning and development.
  • Optimizing the process of matching donors with patients in need of transplant.

“Partnering with Be The Match is key to increasing our donor recruitment efforts in South Africa,” said Jane Ward, Deputy Director for the SABMR. “The increased collaboration between our organizations and the support and expertise Be The Match provides will help us reach more people with our mission, ensuring that patients around the globe have access to the potential donors who have registered with our organization.”

Currently, the SABMR has about 74,000 donors in its database, which is about 0.2% of the South African population. Through this partnership, the goal is to increase that number exponentially by the end of 2022.

If you would like to learn more about becoming a donor please visit BeTheMatch.org or SABMR.co.za.

About Be The Match®

For people with life-threatening blood cancers—like leukemia and lymphoma—or other diseases, a cure exists. Be The Match connects patients with their donor match for a life-saving marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant. People can contribute to the cure as a member of the Be The Match Registry®, financial contributor or volunteer. Be The Match provides patients and their families one-on-one support, education, and guidance before, during and after transplant.

Be The Match is operated by the National Marrow Donor Program® (NMDP), a nonprofit organization that matches patients with donors, educates health care professionals and conducts research through its research program, CIBMTR® (Center for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research®), so more lives can be saved. To learn more about the cure, visit BeTheMatch.org or call 1 (800) MARROW-2.

About the SABMR

The SABMR (NPO) was established in 1991, motivated by the concern that although bone marrow transplants were a life-saving treatment option, they were only available to patients with a matching donor in their family. Today, the SABMR searches both locally and internationally for donors, thereby making collaboration with international registries and observing universal standards of practice essential. As the SABMR is a non-profit organisation, it relies heavily on financial donations from corporates and the public. Funds raised are used towards lifesaving services and patient assistance programmes for families who cannot afford to take on the costly medical bills.