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Life-Saving Transplants Delayed by Critical Donor Scarcity in India
27 May
Summary
- India faces a severe shortage of registered blood stem cell donors.
- Less than 1% of India's population is registered as stem cell donors.
- Delayed diagnosis and donor scarcity hinder timely cancer treatment.
Ahead of World Blood Cancer Day, experts highlight a critical challenge in India: the severe shortage of matching donors for life-saving stem cell transplants. This scarcity, coupled with delayed diagnoses, significantly impedes treatment for blood cancers, for which transplantation is often the only curative option.
Annually, India records over one lakh blood cancer diagnoses, with more than 70,000 lives lost. Approximately 70% of patients require transplants from unrelated donors, yet only about 0.09% of the population is registered. This low registration rate makes finding timely matches extremely difficult, particularly in aggressive blood cancer cases.
While awareness has grown in metropolitan areas, donor registrations from Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities remain low. Experts emphasize the need to expand India's donor registry, highlighting that genetic and ethnic compatibility makes a diverse registry crucial for patients to find suitable matches quickly.
Misconceptions about the donation process, often perceived as painful or invasive, also deter potential donors. In reality, stem cell donation is generally safe and recovery is quick, similar to blood donation. Young individuals aged 18-35 are particularly encouraged to register.
