DOD continues efforts to enroll marrow donors

  • Published
FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AFPN) --  Every 15 minutes someone in the United States is diagnosed with a medical condition that requires treatment with bone marrow or a blood stem cell transplant. Every day more than 6,000 men, women and children around the world search the National Donor Program Registry for a life-saving donor. Thousands of lives are lost because a match is never found.

"Each year more than 35,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with leukemia, lymphoma, aplastic anemia (marrow failure), and other life-threatening blood disorders. Seventy-five percent of patients in need of a marrow transplant cannot find a match within their own family," said Army Maj. Gen. Elder Granger, the deputy director of the Tricare Management Activity.

November is National Marrow Awareness Month, and officials with the C.W. Bill Young/Department of Defense Marrow Donor Program, named for Congressman C.W. Bill Young who initiated and supported its development, are working hard to provide hope and help to patients waiting to find a marrow donor. The C.W. Young donor program is only for military donors.

The C.W. Young program works in conjunction with the National Marrow Donor Program which brings donors together, within the U.S. and from across the world, in a confidential and secure data search system. 

"Humanitarian support is a part of our commitment and uniformed service members can help save lives by enrolling in the National Donor Program Registry," said General Granger.

In addition to the NMDP in the U.S., there are numerous organizations around the world that share this database, working together to find matches for any individual requiring a transplant. Since the creation of the NMDP in 1986, more than six million Americans, including more than 400,000 servicemembers, have registered as marrow donors.

Hundreds of marrow donor drives are conducted on military installations and ships each year. In addition, The C.W. Bill Young/DOD Marrow Donor Program, in cooperation with participating commands, has established "walk-in" registration programs for eligible personnel who wish to join the DOD Marrow Donor Program Registry.

Joining the registry is almost effortless and completely painless. Participants fill out a short two-page DOD consent form and a swab is taken from inside their mouth. Potential donors receive an official card signifying they have registered as a bone marrow donor. They are added to the NMDP national registry through the DOD Marrow Donor Program.

To be eligible to join the registry through the DOD program you must be:

-- Age 18 to 60 and in good health
-- Active duty military, Coast Guard, National Guard, Reserve or DOD civilian employee, or an immediate family member of an active duty servicemember

For more information on the C.W. Young donor program, as well as a list of walk-in locations or to establish a walk-in registration program go to www.dodmarrow.org.


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