Patient Services

Patient Resources and Programmes

DKMS Africa provides specialised services and patient support programmes that help improve access to treatment. Working alongside transplant centres and healthcare professionals, we support donor searches, specialised testing and programmes that help remove barriers to treatment.

Patient Resources and Programmes

A blood stem cell transplant involves much more than finding a matching donor. Throughout the transplant journey, patients may need specialised testing, donor searches and additional support to access treatment.

DKMS Africa provides a range of patient resources and programmes that work alongside the care provided by your healthcare team. These services are designed to improve access to treatment, reduce barriers to treatment and help patients receive the best possible care.

Finding a compatible stem cell donor is one of the most important steps towards transplantation. To support this process, DKMS Africa provides specialised services that help transplant physicians identify the best possible donor match for each patient.

Free Family HLA Typing

The search for a stem cell donor usually begins with your immediate family. Brothers and sisters are more likely to share the same Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) tissue type, making them the first potential donors to be tested.

HLA typing is a specialised genetic test that determines whether a family member is a suitable stem cell donor. To help remove financial barriers, DKMS Africa provides free HLA typing for qualifying patients and their eligible family members.

Identifying a suitable family donor early helps doctors determine the most appropriate treatment pathway and can save valuable time during the transplant process. If no suitable donor is found within the family, the search continues through unrelated stem cell donor registries.

💡 Did you know? HLA typing can cost up to R13,400 per person in South Africa, but DKMS Africa provides it for free to qualifying patients and their family members.

Free Donor Search Requests

After HLA typing, some patients may not have a compatible donor within their family. In these cases, a donor search request is initiated. This is the process of searching for a matching donor from local and international stem cell donor registries, giving patients who do not have a related match the opportunity to receive a lifesaving transplant.

A donor search request usually begins once your doctor has confirmed that a stem cell transplant is the most appropriate treatment option and your family has undergone HLA typing. If no suitable sibling or relative is identified, your healthcare team will ask DKMS Africa to search our donor registry and, if necessary, registries around the world.

The search begins by submitting your HLA tissue type and relevant medical information. This information is compared against thousands of registered stem cell donors to identify the best possible match. If potential donors are identified, they undergo further testing to confirm compatibility and ensure they are medically able to donate safely.

Only around 30% of patients find a matching donor within their family, meaning most patients rely on unrelated volunteer donors. For many people, a donor search request is the step that makes a lifesaving stem cell transplant possible.

High-Resolution HLA Typing

Finding the closest possible donor match is one of the most important factors in a successful blood stem cell transplant.

To support the best possible treatment outcomes, DKMS Africa uses Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) high-resolution HLA typing for all registered donors. This advanced technology analyses tissue types in far greater detail than traditional testing methods, helping transplant physicians identify the most compatible donor while reducing the risk of transplant complications and improving the chances of successful engraftment and long-term recovery.

Our donor HLA typing is performed at the DKMS Life Science Lab (LSL) in Dresden, Germany, one of the world's leading laboratories specialising in high-resolution HLA typing for stem cell donor registries.

💡 Did you know? High-resolution HLA typing improves transplant outcomes and reduces complications, making it a crucial step in the search for a compatible donor.

Improving Access to Treatment

Finding a suitable donor is only one part of the transplant journey. Patients and families may also experience financial, practical and logistical challenges that affect access to treatment.

DKMS Africa's Access to Treatment (ATT) programme is designed to help remove these barriers by working alongside transplant centres, healthcare professionals and partner organisations to improve access to lifesaving stem cell transplantation.

Through ATT, we support donor-related services, facilitate family and unrelated donor searches and provide programmes that help qualifying patients access the treatment they need.

Patient Support Fund

A blood stem cell transplant can place significant financial pressure on patients and their families, particularly when an unrelated donor is required. In addition to medical treatment, patients may face donor-related costs that can make transplantation more difficult to access.

Our Patient Support Fund helps qualifying patients cover eligible donor-related and treatment-related expenses where programme criteria are met. By helping reduce financial barriers, the programme gives more patients the opportunity to receive potentially lifesaving treatment.

State Patient Programme

Patients receiving treatment within South Africa's public healthcare system may face additional challenges when accessing stem cell transplantation.

The State Patient Programme helps qualifying patients treated in state healthcare facilities access transplant-related services and donor support throughout the transplant process. By working alongside transplant centres and healthcare professionals, the programme aims to ensure that more patients have equitable access to lifesaving treatment.

Education and Information

Understanding your diagnosis and the treatment process can help you feel more informed and prepared throughout your treatment journey.

DKMS Africa provides reliable educational information about blood cancers, blood disorders, donor matching and blood stem cell transplantation to help patients and families better understand what to expect before, during and after treatment.

We also work closely with transplant centres and healthcare professionals to ensure patients receive accurate information and appropriate guidance throughout the donor search and transplant process.

Supporting Every Step Towards Treatment

Every patient deserves the best possible chance of receiving a lifesaving stem cell transplant.

Through specialised donor search services, patient support programmes and close collaboration with healthcare professionals, DKMS Africa remains committed to improving access to treatment and supporting patients and their families throughout every stage of the journey.

Patient Resources and Programmes