Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
In 2023, a widespread campaign to find bone marrow donors concluded, resulting in 1,438 successful transplants. The DKMS Foundation’s registry expanded by 82,000 potential donors, reaching a total of over 1.9 million individuals. Of these, 47,000 joined through foundation-led events, while 35,000 registered online.
The DKMS Foundation is an international non-profit organization dedicated to combating blood cancers and other hematopoietic system disorders.
Representatives emphasize that beyond being a year of action, it was a year of “second chances at life” for 1,438 actual donors. Notably, 43 individuals donated marrow for a second time.
Most transplants benefited patients in Poland, the USA, Germany, France, Italy, and the UK. Polish donors also provided life-saving opportunities for genetic twins in distant corners of the world, such as Kazakhstan, South Africa, Chile, India, Uruguay, and Reunion Island.
The foundation attributes the surge in registrations to its active social media presence and the 2023 campaign, “Hope in You for Matching.”
Anyone registered may receive a call within ten years, offering the chance to donate marrow to their genetic twin. Last year, 9,500 individuals received such calls, though not all resulted in donations.
The DKMS Foundation’s mission is to find a donor for every global patient in need of hematopoietic stem cell transplants. Operating since 2008, the Polish center has 1,900,000 registered donors, with 12,500 donating marrow by December 2023, providing a second chance at life worldwide.