Only in May last year, we formed this partnership to register as many potential blood stem cell donors as possible with the most diverse ethnic backgrounds. Our collaboration was so successful during the past ten months that we both decided to extend our commitment. “Growing the diversity of the donor pool by collaborating across borders is key to helping patients, in need of a life-saving blood stem cell transplant, with finding a matching donor quickly – not only in South Africa and other African countries, but also worldwide,” says Dr. Elke Neujahr, Global CEO DKMS.

Increasing the ethnic diversity of the worldwide donor pool

“South Africa’s rainbow nation is at a distinct disadvantage, requiring a large pool of prospective donors. As part of an international organization, we will be able to raise more awareness for our cause and register more donors to increase the likelihood of finding a matching unrelated blood stem cell donor for patients. As DKMS Africa, our goal is to recruit a continent-wide ethnically diverse registry of donors committed to helping anyone in need of a life-saving transplant,” says Alana James, Country Executive Director DKMS Africa.

Listing of DKMS Africa donors via the DKMS Registry

As of June 8, 2021, the DKMS Registry will list all DKMS Africa donors and make them available for searches. Preliminary search requests and any donor requests can be sent by e-mail or fax to services@dkmsregistry.org or +49 7071 943-2299.

As of June 22, 2021, DKMS Africa donors will also be available via EMDIS through the DKMS Registry (EMDIS HUB DR). If DKMS Africa donors fulfil the matching preference of a search request, they will automatically be included in the EMDIS search results of HUB DR.

We will provide detailed information about the listing in due course.