A matter of life or death
Gift of Life Australia is appealing to the Australian government to fund cheek swab testing as the country's stem cell donor pool shrinks.
With Australia’s stem cell donor pool shrinking, a pending decision by the Australian government will be critical to helping those with blood cancer, Gift of Life Australia (GOLA) chair Richard Glass says.
Funding cheek swab testing for potential donors would allow GOLA to more effectively resume its potentially life-saving activities.
“For some, it could be a matter of life or death,” Glass said.
GOLA was founded by the late Shula Endrey-Walder and is supported by Wolper Jewish Hospital. The voluntary organisation is dedicated to addressing the under-representation of Jews on the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ABMDR).
“If people with a blood cancer cannot get a stem cell match with a family member – their next best chance of a cure is a match with a person of the same ethnic background,” Glass said.
He noted that minority ethnic groups in general are under-represented on the register. The current testing method of needing a blood sample, coupled with lower testing during the pandemic, has led to fewer new donors being registered on the ABMDR.
“As a result, the probability of a person with a blood cancer finding a life-saving match in Australia has declined,” he said.
“This shrinking of Australia’s donor pool and reliance on overseas stem cell donors should be of concern to all.”
Glass observed that in most developed countries, samples are collected by cheek swabs and have been, in many instances, for over 20 years.
“This method is less invasive, more scalable, offers a lower cost of acquisition and is proven to secure more registrants,” he said.
“Despite a successful cheek swab pilot program – Strength to Give – in which GOLA participated, this method has not been adopted as yet in Australia.”
Countries with cheek swabs had reportedly increased their donor pools by 32 per cent, he said, while Australia’s has decreased by 3.5 per cent with a significantly older donor base.
“Australia now relies on 85 per cent of stem cell donations for potential cures coming from overseas and it is even higher for ethnic minorities,” he said. “We need a local donor pool that better reflects the needs of our multicultural population.”
He said GOLA strongly encourages federal and state governments to work together “as a matter of urgency” to provide the necessary funding to support the activities of the ABMDR, GOLA and other organisations actively recruiting donors.
Members of the community are encouraged to sign a petition.
More info/petition link: gola.org.au
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