A major bone marrow donor recruitment drive is being run this
month in Israel by Ezer Mizion, a nonprofit organization that
provides medical support and health services. Ezer Mizion
hopes to collect blood samples from 30,000 new potential bone
marrow donors, bringing the total number of potential donors
in its Jewish data bank, the world's largest, to 130,000.
The cost of the campaign is estimated at just under $2
million, mainly for flying 30,000 blood samples to American
laboratories and having them tissue-typed. The campaign will
utilize the hundreds of Ezer Mizion volunteers throughout
Israel.
Dr. Bracha Zisser is intimately aware of this project's
importance. She meets people whose lives depend on a bone
marrow transplant every day, in the course of her work as
Director of Ezer Mizion's 22-suite convalescent home for
cancer patients in Petach Tikvah. She says that this personal
contact with cancer victims has motivated her to initiate a
series of major bone marrow donor drives that have driven
Ezer Mizion's bone marrow donor data bank to grow by 1,000
per cent in just under five years.
"Just think what it could mean to save a life," she says.
"And it can be done so easily. Giving bone marrow is not what
it used to be. Today, it's as simple a procedure as giving
blood."
Her efforts have evidently borne fruit. Ezer Mizion has
helped save the lives of 30 Jews in various countries
throughout the world. Four successful matches were made last
month alone. One person's life was saved by an anonymous
donor from England.
"For many cancer patients," Dr. Zisser explains, "their only
hope lies in finding a suitable bone marrow donor.
Unfortunately, the chances of a patient finding a proper
match are slim, considering the many genetic factors that are
involved. For the Jewish patient, the odds are even slimmer,
as most donors are not from the same ethnic background. There
is an international bone marrow donor registry in Holland
with 5 million names, but the chances of a Jew finding a
donor there are next to nil."
The most successful donor drives, explains Dr. Zisser, are
those held in Israel where, as a result of the ethnic
diversity of the country's Jewish inhabitants, there is "a
rich genetic soup" that is readily accessible.
The supply of Jewish bone marrow donors is still lagging far
behind the demand. According to Ezer Mizion spokesman Uri
Ezrahi, 10 per cent of cancer patients need bone marrow
transplants.
Ezrahi estimates that there are hundreds of Jewish cancer
patients around the world in need of bone marrow transplant.
"Our data bank receives 150 telephone queries a month from
patients and physicians throughout the world," he says.
"It's imperative for Jews everywhere to get involved in the
fight against cancer," Dr. Zisser says. "Ezer Mizion has
undertaken a project that unifies and benefits Jews all over
the world. It is for this reason that Ezer Mizion asks of
each and every member of the Jewish people to link up with
the Bone Marrow Donor Registry. Whether by donating a blood
sample or sponsoring tissue typing to cover the cost of the
testing, by getting involved you can be confident that you
are helping to save lives."
