UKZN Signs MoU with Bone Marrow Donor Centre to Curb Blood Cancer and Related Disorders

UKZN Signs MoU with Bone Marrow Donor Centre to Curb Blood Cancer and Related Disorders

A South African is diagnosed with a blood related disorder every 72 minutes yet only 0.4% of the country’s population is registered as potential blood stem donors.

This is according to Executive Director of UKZN’s Corporate Relations Division Ms Normah Zondo who delivered the opening address to a lecture highlighting the importance of stem cell transplantation and its impact on blood cancer and related disorders.

The lecture was hosted by UKZN in collaboration with Deutsche Knochenmarkspenderdatei (DKMS), an international not for profit bone marrow donor centre based in Germany. During proceedings a formal MoU was signed between the two institutions signalling a collective resolve in the fight against blood related disorders, including blood cancer.

DKMS, which has offices in Chile, India, Poland, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States, is set in its vision of saving as many lives as it can through creating a large pool of blood stem cell registries.

Zondo said the statistics alone showed how urgent it was to expand the donor registry within the country, saying ‘we are immensely proud to join forces with DKMS Africa and are working tirelessly to turn the tide in the critical fight to save lives.

‘Over the next few years our collaboration will focus on awareness campaigns, stem cell registration drives, and other initiatives because we believe that by dispelling myths and providing accurate information we can help save countless lives,’ said Zondo.

DKMS Global CEO Dr Elke Neujahr said the partnership had already achieved so much with more than 2 700 donors registered from the University. She shared her personal dream of wanting 100 transplant donors in Africa by the year 2030 and elaborated on the importance of a diverse donor pool with varied ethnicity groups.

Blood stem donor and UKZN alumnus Mr Kwazi Mhlongo led a panel discussion in which Dr Sharlene Parasnath, the Head of the Clinical Unit of the Department of the Clinical Haematology and Stem Cell Transplant Unit at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital in Durban, explained how stem cells were produced and how blood cancer took over the production of normal cells in the bone marrow, resulting in clonal cells that have undergone mutations spilling out abnormal cells known as leukaemia. She said there were various types of leukaemia but the most prominent were acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and acute myeloid leukaemia which if left untreated could result in death very rapidly.

Parasnath noted how stem cell transplants had greatly improved outcomes in cancer patients over the last 14 years.

Dr Keshnie Moodley, a paediatric haematologist based at the Ethekwini Hospital and Heart Centre, dispelled some myths related to being a stem cell donor, saying the process involved a cheek swap to start with and if found to be a DNA match, the extraction of CD34 cells was a quick and simple procedure. She noted how the process was more intense for those awaiting transplants as it included going through chemotherapy to clean out the bone marrow and when in remission infusing the donors CD34 cells, so they could take over and produce the cells needed.

Ms Megan Friedman highlighted how her daughter Mackenzie was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia at just four months old at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Friedman’s family opened an Instagram page known as “Mighty Mack” in a bid to find a donor with blood and bone marrow drives conducted around the country and thousands registering to be donors with DKMS Africa.

Encouraging others to become donors Friedman said: ‘With the help of a donor I now have this healthy little girl. Please sign up because with just a simple cheek swap you can change someone’s life forever!’

UKZN lecturer Professor Andrew Ross, who was recently diagnosed with Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS) – (a bone marrow deficiency) spoke about his race against time waiting for a matching stem cell donor to be found.

In closing remarks, Head of Department for Donor Recruitment and Data Management at DKMS Africa Mr Xolani Hlongwane thanked the panellists, the UKZN students and staff members for attending as well as the organisers of the event.

He said DKMS Africa had done extremely well in getting a pool of 101 000 donors to date, but still had a long way to go and partnerships were needed to educate and recruit young donors.

Hlongwane implored others to either sign up as donors or share the information with someone who could be one.

To register to be a donor with DKMS Africa click here.

Words: Hlengiwe Khwela

Photograph: Sethu Dlamini