Bristol MP recruits young Bristol men to the stem cell register
Local MP, Kerry McCarthy is inviting young Bristol men to fill the gap on the bone marrow register and donate blood stem cells to help save the lives of cancer victims.
The Bristol MPhas joined other politicians in pledging to recruit at least ten men each between the ages to 18 and 30 to join the Anthony Nolan stem cell register.
Anthony Nolan is a pioneering charity that saves the lives of people with blood cancer. They provide two potentially lifesaving transplants every day, but for every patient they can help, there is another for whom, sadly, no match can be found. Every day, they use their register to match remarkable donors willing to donate their blood stem cells to people who desperately need potentially lifesaving transplants.
However, there is a shortage of young male donors on the bone marrow register. Men aged 18-30 account for 80% of donations, but make up just 19% of the register. Presently, Anthony Nolan can only find a matching donor for half the people who come to them in desperate need of a lifesaving transplant so this summer they are aiming to recruit 10,000 more young men to the register.
On average, 65 people a day in the UK are diagnosed with a blood cancer – that’s one person every 23 minutes. There are nearly 1,600 people in the UK in need of a bone marrow transplant. This is usually their last chance of survival.
Kerry will be writing to youth groups, colleges and other community groups as well as raising this with young people she meets around the constituency over the summer.
Anthony Nolan has provided every MP with a unique code to give to constituents so the charity can track how many young men MPs have recruited. Young men interested in the chance to save someone’s life should go to mp.anthonynolan.org and enter the code KerMcCBri
Kerry said: “We need to encourage more people, especially young men, to become registered stem cell donors. They can really help save someone’s life and is a great way to give something back to society. The Antony Nolan charity is aiming to recruit ten thousand new donors before Christmas. Registering is quick and easy, you can register online and all you need to do after that is provide a sample of your saliva. I would strongly encouraging anyone looking to make a difference this summer to register as a donor.”
