The
National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)
has long considered the South Asian community an invaluable
source of educated individuals who could be motivated to
saving the lives of leukemia and blood cancer patients.
In 1994, the NMDP launched a national initiative to raise
awareness and galvanize volunteer marrow/blood cell donor
recruitment within Asian/Pacific Islanders (A/PI), including
South Asians.
Since then, with the
aid of the South Asian Marrow
Association of Recruiters (SAMAR),
over 55,000 South Asians have been recruited for this great
cause and many successful transplants have been administered.
Although South Asians account for less than one percent
of the national population, they currently represent almost
two percent of the volunteer donors in the national registry-
a testament to NMDP’s efforts to increase recruitment
in the South Asian community
In an effort to reach out
to influential South Asian community based organizations,
the NMDP, along with SAMAR, has partnered with the Asian
American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA) and the American
Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI), two key
foundations representing the South Asian community. AAHOA
is an affluent organization with more than 8,700 members.
In 2002, SAMAR and the NMDP started the “Spring into
Action – Save a Life” initiative with AAPI, a
community organization consisting of 35,000 doctors and
11,000 medical students and residents. The NMDP recognizes
the AAPI conventions as an opportune platform to provide
information for physicians who treat patients who may be
eligible for blood stem cell transplant. The “Spring
into Action – Save a Life” project’s success
lies in the utilization of knowledgeable AAPI members to
educate South Asians who are unaware of the urgent need
for them to register as marrow/blood cell donors; South
Asians are always willing to stop and heed the words of
their known fellow community members.
The interest from the South
Asian community has been overwhelming and has allowed SAMAR
to be one of the few national recruitment groups to surpass
its donor recruitment goals for the past several years.
The response from the community has been tremendous and
there is a respectable number of South Asians in the NMDP
registry. But, until each patient in need can find a donor,
our collective work isn’t completed. The education,
awareness and recruitment processes continue to be ongoing
priorities; the fact that SAMAR and the NMDP have been successful
thus far in recruiting so many South Asians shows that we
can recruit even more potential donors. The thirteen year
productive partnership of the NMDP and SAMAR will continue
to reach out to South Asians throughout the nation with
the constant hope of bringing a smile back to life.
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