President McAleese addresses awards ceremony for unrelated bone marrow donors
IBTS hosts first ever event to recognise bone marrow donors

The Irish Blood Transfusion Service today held the first ever awards ceremony for unrelated bone marrow donors in Ireland on Monday, September 19th last. Her Excellency, the President of Ireland, Mary McAleese attended the event to recognise the extraordinary gift 61 donors have given to people at home here in Ireland and throughout the world.

The awards ceremony was held in Radisson SAS St Helens Hotel, Stillorgan Road, Blackrock.

IBTS Chief Executive Andrew Kelly, said that holding the ceremony at the start of Blood for Life Week, which is held every September to raise awareness of the need for regular donation, was a timely reminder of the extraordinary community commitment by thousands of Irish people who help maintain a vital element of our health service. "That is an ample supply of blood and blood products, given generously for no reward - something that must never be taken for granted.

"What characterises bone marrow donors is the extent of their motivation to help another person who is not a family member, friend or even an acquaintance. These donors show extraordinary generosity and human kindness

"The awards ceremony is a fitting recognition of the enormous contribution that these 61 heroes have made, by sharing the precious gifts of time and life itself with people less fortunate, both at home and throughout the world," he added.

Bone Marrow or Stem Cell Transplantation offers the only potential cure for a number of blood diseases, such as leukaemia, bone marrow failure or congenital blood disorders. For patients with any of these conditions their best treatment option is to receive a transplant from a tissue matched family member, usually a brother or sister, however not all patients have such a sibling match. With the reduction in the average family size in the Western World, bone marrow transplantation from a family member is not an option for an increasing number of patients.

The increasing success rate of Bone Marrow Transplantation in the 1980s led to the establishment of a number of volunteer registries to provide a panel of tissue typed volunteer donors for any patient in need of a bone marrow transplant who did not have a family donor.

The Irish Unrelated Bone Marrow Registry (IUBMR) was established in 1989 and is maintained and administered by the Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS) at the National Blood Centre in Dublin. The Registry is affiliated to the World Marrow Donor Association and since 1991 the donor register is listed on the Bone Marrow Donor Worldwide (BMDW), a database of 54 Bone Marrow Registers in 39 countries.

In the late 1980s, the majority of Irish patients still had family donors, however, it was becoming increasingly evident that a panel of unrelated potential bone marrow donors would be required for the Irish population if patients who required a Bone Marrow Transplant were to be fortunate enough to have a matched donor.

The IUBMR has now got approximately 19,500 volunteers, all of whom have agreed to have their blood tissue typed as a potential Bone Marrow / Stem Cell donor. The medical requirements for a potential bone marrow / stem cell donor are similar to that of whole blood donors, with some exceptions - donors must be 18 - 45 years with specific weight and health criteria and no history of consistent back trouble.

Our own Walter Keady, ESB Networks, one such donor was matched with a two year old child in Norway. He described the process as extremely professional and complimented the BTSB staff involved. Walter would encourage his colleagues throughout ESB to consider making such a wonderful donation. "Despite initial trepidation being offered the opportunity to save someone's life is a gift not an inconvenience and something and one I would willing do again," he told EM.