Cheek swab breakthrough
Cheek swabs are being made more readily available in Australia as a match continues to be sought for young Jewish father Murray Foltyn.
Gift of Life Australia (GOLA) chairman Richard Glass has welcomed cheek swabs being made more readily available in Australia as a match continues to be sought for young Jewish father Murray Foltyn.
The 41-year-old father of two has a rare blood cancer and is in urgent need of a life-saving stem cell match.
GOLA and the Foltyn family have recently held blood drives in Melbourne, Perth and Sydney. A cheek swab session was held at Kehillat Kadimah in Sydney, which drew 270 people.
Glass said the “sheer volumes that are possible” with cheek swabs increases the chances of a match.
Most Western countries collect samples this way. But in Australia, people have needed to provide a blood sample to join the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ABMDR).
“Cheek swabs are significantly more user-friendly, less expensive, vastly more scalable and can be done in the comfort of your own home,” Glass said.
GOLA participated in a successful pilot cheek swab program with the ABMDR’s Strength to Give initiative in 2020. But the federal government did not then approve their ongoing utilisation.
But in recent weeks Health Minister Mark Butler acknowledged there were not enough people on the ABMDR and committed to “cut through some of the jurisdictional bureaucratic red tape … to clear the way” to enable swab usage.
Glass said the long-overdue change brings Australia into line with other countries such as the US, UK and Israel and will be a “game-changer” in saving lives.
“We are very proud to have contributed to the momentum for this significant change,” Glass said.
“I particularly want to acknowledge the late Shula Endrey-Walder who was responsible for founding GOLA, with Wolper Jewish Hospital, in 1996. This is a milestone that would have given Shula much joy.”
ABMDR CEO Lisa Smith said, “We would not be in this position today without the support and advocacy of organisations such as GOLA.”
Foltyn’s wife, Claudia Milunsky, said, “Our family cannot thank enough those people who have come forward.
“We need to have as many people sampled as possible, and ask anyone aged 18-35 years who is not already on the registry, to please go to a Lifeblood centre to donate blood and ask to be put on the register, or order a swab kit from the Strength to Give website.
“For Murray, time is of the essence.”
A cheek swab event will be held at Melbourne’s Caulfield Shule on Thursday night, March 30, from 5pm-8pm.
Around the world
A match in another country is just as good as a match in Australia, so please get tested and pass the links on.
United States
There are key donor drives happening in the US via Gift of Life. For more information, visit giftoflife.org/swab
Otherwise, it’s a simple cheek swab. Visit my.bethematch.org/s/join
United Kingdom – dkms.org.uk/get-involved/become-a-donor
Israel – ami.org.il/
South Africa – sabmr.co.za/
Slovakia – swabtheworld.com/en/country/slovak-republic
Russia – swabtheworld.com/en/country/russia
Everywhere else – swabtheworld.com/en/become-a-donor
More info: lifeblood.com.au
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