•From left: Aisha Babalakin; Anga and Babalakin at the event.
You can save a cancer patient from dying. How? It is by donating a bone marrow.
That gesture will guarantee that a seamless bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is performed on a patient.
A stem cell transplantation is recommended for people with leukemia, multiple myeloma, and some types of lymphoma. It may also be used to treat some genetic diseases that involve the blood, such as sickle cell disorder (SCD).
And that is what Miss Ronke Babalakin, Miss Babalakin, daughter of Chairman, Bi-Courtney Highways Limited, Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN), has developed a passion for – to recruit donors, and connect recipients to the pool site – German Registry, Die Deutsche Knochenmarkspenderdatei (DKMS) and BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.
Miss Babalakin explained that a diseased bone marrow (the spongy, fatty tissue found inside larger bones) is destroyed with chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy and then replaced with highly specialised stem cells that develop into healthy bone marrow.
“Although this procedure used to be referred to as a bone marrow transplant, today it is more commonly called a stem cell transplant because it is stem cells in the blood that are typically being transplanted, not the actual bone marrow tissue,” she said.
As promising as this option is, Miss Babalakin said the main challenge is the dearth of donors. And that is why she has floated a non-governmental organisation Ara (Yoruba name for Wonder).
According to her, the “scarcity of donors is depriving so many cancer patients of this novel treatment. This is of concern to many, especially those who have lost family members or friends. That is why we came up with Ara, a pan-African bone marrow and cord blood donor recruitment group to explore recruitment for bone marrow donors to save lives. The group aims to get 30,000 bone marrow donors by the end of 2018; ensure that these donors can be found through international donor searches, and educate African communities about treatments for blood cancers and sickle cell anemia. We already have a website-www.ara-africa.org, and we can be contacted via info@ara-africa.org.”
Miss Babalakin, who has a background in finance, said she founded Ara because though she lost a friend, another recovered through the procedure.She however decried the low response to bone marrow donation. “It is not common in Nigeria, and even globally,” she said.
She said Nigerians should not wait until somebody is in a dire strait before donors are recruited. “Bone marrow has been found to provide cure for blood cancers and sickle cell anaemia. Culture, myth and religion are some of the reasons people do not donate their bone marrow. Less than one per cent of Africans are involved in donating their bone marrow. We have found out that it is hard for African cancer patients to find donors. Why? Going by the population of this continent, there are 68, 222 potential donors in Africa. This represents a paltry 0.006 per cent of the continent’s population. There is the need to raise awareness on voluntary donation so that people can come forward to donate their bone marrow to save lives,” she added.
“The likelihood of a black person to find a perfect match in bone marrow treatment at the time of need is slim because of dearth of donors. Our long-term goal is to provide the logistics and infrastructure to ensure the seamless recruitment of donors in cities all over Africa.
“This is different in comparison to the United States with potential donors of 10,500,000, which represents 3.3 per cent of its population. The United Kingdom has 894,714 potential donors, which represent 1.4 per cent of its population,” she said.
Miss Babalakin said the group has received about $200,000 from DKMS to start the recruitment in the country. “At the moment, there are only two registries in Africa: South African Registry and Ara,” she said.
Ara Director/Volunteer Coordinator, Miss Piriye Anga, said adults under 45 could donate, adding that it is not risky.
She said there was the need to educate people that blood collected would not be used for rituals, but only for surgery.”The greatest challenge is convincing people to donate their bone marrow. We need to raise awareness to reduce the stigma, which surrounds cancer in Nigeria and Africa,” she said.
Miss Anga said the group was already enjoying the support of other NGOs in its drive to get bone marrows.
On how to donate, Miss Babalakin said there are three ways to do so.
“One can be a donor through peripheral blood stem cell, bone marrow or be a financial supporter.
“Peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation is a simple procedure. Blood is removed through a needle on one arm and passed through a machine that separates out the blood-forming cells and the remaining blood is returned through the other arm. It is used in 70 per cent of cases. Seventy-five per cent of all PBSC donations are completed in one session, which may take up to eight hours. A donor may feel muscle aches for about five days after the procedure, but some donors have reported feeling no pain 30 minutes to an hour after the procedure,” she added.
For bone marrow donation, “it is a surgical procedure. “Local or general anesthesia will be used, so there is no pain when the marrow is collected. It is used in 30 per cent of cases, and on children because they experience a higher success rate from marrow transplants as opposed to blood stem cell donation. Donors feel discomfort and some pains in their lower back from one or two weeks,’’ said Miss Babalakin.
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