8th World Day for Bone Marrow Donation: The national registry must reflect the diversity of populations!
Published on 7 September 2022
On the occasion of the 8th World Day for Bone Marrow Donation, to be held on September 17, the Agence de la biomédecine would like to reiterate the importance of diversifying the French volunteer donor registry, in order to significantly increase patients' hopes of recovery. The year 2022 began with an intense mobilization around bone marrow donation, generating unprecedented visibility. But it's not the number of registrants that reflects the quality of the registry, it's the diversity of profiles represented among volunteer donors. In order to offer the best chances of recovery to every patient in need of a bone marrow transplant, the Agency has set itself 3 key objectives: to make the registry more masculine, younger and, above all, more diverse.
Launched last April, the bone marrow donation awareness campaign closes on September 17: an opportunity to take stock of the challenges facing bone marrow donation in 2022.
Since the start of the campaign, 18,130 new registrants have joined the French bone marrow donor registry. This brings the total number of registrants to 351,329 by the end of August 2022.
A system to raise awareness and remind everyone of the most sought-after profiles
The aim for 2022 is to encourage men aged 18 to 35 of all origins to find out more about the subject, so that they can take the plunge and join the registry.
To mark World Bone Marrow Donor Day, the Agence de la biomédecine is once again launching a number of initiatives aimed at this target audience:
- The creation of a special program on bone marrow donation hosted by Emeric Berco, aka M-Rick, on Skyrock on September 23;
- Content created in collaboration with Jamy Gourmaud and his Epicurieux media, broadcast on Instagram and TikTok from September 2;
- A mobilization on social networks, to continue the work of informing and educating.
To continue reaching out to young people and students, the recruitment drive for new donors has also been rethought, with a new recruitment mailing and SMS campaign.
Masculinizing & rejuvenating the registry: for the best chances of grafting
In France, only 36% of bone marrow donors are men. Yet 70% of donors are men, because their bone marrow lacks the antibodies developed by women during pregnancy. This attenuates the immunological reactions associated with transplantation, and explains why doctors prefer male donors. Doctors have also found that transplants are more likely to succeed when the compatible donor is young; the younger you are, the more numerous and active your bone marrow cells are. Transplant success is therefore faster when the donor is a young man, a target group to be recruited as a matter of priority.
Diversifying the genetic origins of registrants: to offer equal opportunities to all
To carry out a bone marrow transplant, it is necessary to find a donor who is compatible with the patient, i .e. someone whose immunological characteristics are as close as possible to those of the patient. Each patient has his or her own immunological profile, determined in part by geographical origins and family genetic history. It is therefore essential that the registry reflects the diversity of origins as they exist in France and around the world, to improve the chances of finding a donor for each patient. Diversifying the profiles of volunteer donors is the most effective way of significantly increasing the chances of finding a compatible donor for each patient.
To join the registry, three conditions must be met:
- Be in perfect health
- Be between the ages of 18 and 35
- Complete a medical questionnaire and take a biological sample (salivary sample or blood test on final registration) to determine the future donor's biological identity card or HLA typing.
This biological identity card is included in the national register of voluntary bone marrow donors, which is constantly checked to determine possible HLA matches between donors and patients, on a completely anonymous basis.