Press Release

ICPA partners with DKMS

As of November 2021, it will become even easier to register as a blood stem cell donor in South Africa, courtesy of the partnership between DKMS Africa and ICPA. The partnership will see 18 participating ICPA pharmacies across five provinces become official donor registration sites.

22/11/2021

As of November 2021, it will become even easier to register as a blood stem cell donor in South Africa, courtesy of the partnership between DKMS Africa and ICPA. The partnership will see 19 participating ICPA pharmacies across five provinces become official donor registration sites, this is in addition to DKMS Africa’s established online registration process.

“Our goal is to grow the number of registered donors we have in South Africa. By doing so, we will improve the likelihood of patients finding a match and, more importantly, making it to transplant. We are excited about the partnership with ICPA, which effectively makes it even easier for the public to register and become potentially life-saving donors,” adds DKMS Africa’s Executive Country Director, Alana James.

DKMS Africa’s mission statement is, “we delete blood cancer”. The organisation aims to help combat blood cancers and common blood disorders such as leukaemia, aplastic anaemia and sickle cell disease through the recruitment of blood stem cell donors and maintaining an ethnically diverse registry of potential donors committed to helping anyone in need of a life-saving stem cell transplant.

ICPA represents the largest pool of professionals in the healthcare sector with over 1,100 pharmacies, about 2,500 pharmacists and 20,000 supportive healthcare personnel spread across metropolitan, urban and rural South Africa. “We hope our partnership with DKMS will drive education, awareness and donor recruitment from as many points as possible, thereby reaching the goal to expand the SA donor registry and potentially helping to save lives,” says Jackie Maimin, CEO of ICPA.

Anyone between the ages of 18 and 55 with a good bill of health can become a stem cell donor by simply completing a registration form and a non-invasive cheek swab before delivering their donor kit to a designated dropbox. The forms, kits and drop boxes will now all be available at the listed ICPA pharmacies.

Download list of participating pharmacies

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