CHENNAI, September 22, 2016 /PRNewswire/ --
DATRI Blood Stem Cell Donors Registry celebrated the World Marrow Donor Day on 17th September across India. The primary purpose of the celebration was to thank all the donors worldwide and highlight the global cooperation in blood stem cell transplantation. Worldwide, blood stem cell donor registries organised different events to emphasize that 30 million donors is still not enough.
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On 15th September, DATRI and TI Cycles in association with Apollo Cancer Institute, Chennai launched the kick-off event 'Cycle to Gift a Life - 2016' for the World Marrow Donor Day celebration. The event saw expert physicians, celebrities, representatives of DATRI, blood stem cell donors, patients and their families in attendance. TI Cycles gifted patients and donors with bicycles and showed their support towards blood stem cell donation. Learning about DATRI, Mr. Suhail Ahmed from TI Cycles said, "We are very happy to be associated with DATRI for this cause. We are looking forward to bringing more smiles and happy families."
On 16th September, a 200 km cycling event was held from Chennai to Venangupattu near Marakkanam. The occasion saw about 50 enthusiastic cyclists participating and expressing their support. The ride was flagged off from Ticel Bio Park, Chennai to Venangupattu and back to Chennai.
The need to raise awareness on blood stem cell donation and registering as willing donors in the country is urgent. In 2016, DATRI has about 700+ patients waiting for an unrelated matched donor. The fact is that, only 1 in 10,000 to 1 in 2 million is the probability of finding an unrelated genetically matched blood stem cell donor. Only 25% chances are likely to find a match within the family. Therefore, the only possibility of giving a new lease of life to people suffering from fatal blood disorders such as leukemia, thalassemia, lymphoma etc., is to increase the number of donors, so their chances of survival could increase.
Speaking about the World Marrow Donor Day, Mr. Raghu Rajagopal, CEO & Co- Founder of DATRI, said, "We would like to thank every donor who has donated and who is eagerly waiting on the registry to donate. We are so glad and thankful that, on a very special occasion like this, people from different walks of life have come forward to lend us their valuable support through their participation in different activities conducted across the country by DATRI."
As a part of thanking the donors, on 29th September 2016, Chennai will witness a heart-warming meeting where a donor and a recipient will be meeting for the first time.
DATRI is a not-for-profit organization registered as a Section 25 company under the Government of India. Co-founded by Mr. Raghu Rajagopal, Dr. Nezih Cereb and Dr. Soo Young Yang in 2009, the vision of the organization is to find a willing matched donor for every patient suffering from fatal blood related disorders and in need of a blood stem cell transplant.
DATRI is India's largest adult unrelated blood stem cell donors registry with over 1, 52,000 voluntary donors registered and has facilitated 197 donations till today. DATRI works with 11 collection centers and serviced 39 transplant Centers worldwide. DATRI is an associate of Bone Marrow Donors Worldwide (BMWD) and a member of World Marrow Donors Association (WMDA).
For more on DATRI, visit: http://www.datriworld.org
Media Contact:
Aviini Ashikho
[email protected]
+91-7598145413
Public Relations Coordinator
DATRI Blood Stem Cell Donors Registry
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