Bone marrow donors - privileges. How to register in the database?

Donors of cells, tissues and organs can enjoy various privileges. However, the decision to become a donor is not dictated by the possibility, for example, of faster access to outpatient care. People who decide to register as a potential bone marrow donor usually do so because they want to help selflessly.

What is bone marrow?

Bone marrow and hematopoietic stem cells are the “medicine” that saves health and life. Thanks to bone marrow transplantation, many patients have found a second life. Blood cancer, i.e. Acute and chronic leukemias affecting children and adults are diseases that are often resistant to various treatments. At the stage of treatment, you can try to find a bone marrow donor among the next of kin or use stem cells from an unrelated donor. The data of the funds involved in the search for donors of cells, tissues and organs is not optimistic - only every fifth patient is eligible for a family transplant; cross-transplantation may also be useful for a few sick patients, which is why it is so important to constantly increase the number of donors whose stem cells can be used by patients.

Finding a genetic twin donor is not easy. Only in a small percentage of patients, stem cell transplantation is possible immediately after the diagnosis of the disease is established, which significantly improves the prognosis. You can do a good deed by offering the most important thing to another person, i.e. a chance for health and long life! All you have to do is register as a potential bone marrow donor. The whole procedure is not difficult. A person who wants to become a donor does not need to be afraid, among other things: the need to pay a fee for the sent registration package and the necessary tests.

A transplant donor can enjoy various privileges. The same applies to blood donors, which are constantly in short supply in blood banks.

Who can become a bone marrow donor?

Any adult can become a bone marrow donor. The age range of donors is from 18 to 55 years. Reaching the age of majority allows any healthy person who is not overweight to be registered in the database of bone marrow donors. It is important to note that before taking bone marrow cells for transplantation, it will be necessary to undergo a medical examination. Mere compatibility with the recipient is not enough to become a donor of bone marrow and other cells.

Registration in the database of potential donors is the first step we can take to give another person health or save his life. It is not possible to be a transplant donor if the person interested in cell donation is a sick person. cancer, heart attack, stroke and autoimmune diseases.

Subscribing to the database of potential donors is not equivalent to donating bone marrow for transplantation and does not entitle you to enjoy the privileges of a donor. Some privileges are available already at the beginning of the initial tests, which give the right to donate cells. The donor can use his privileges, within the limits provided by law, after collecting cells for transplantation and receiving documents confirming this.

Benefits of a bone marrow donor

Polish law regulates the privileges of a bone marrow donor. Each transplant donor receives a document that confirms that he can use them. Identity card and “Transplant Donor” badge must be presented at the bone marrow collection center. If a transplant donor donates bone marrow or stem cells more than once, he/she receives an ID card and an “Outstanding Transplant Donor” badge. It is issued by the Ministry of Health and solemnly presented to the donor.

The Transplant Donor ID and Badge and the Distinguished Transplant Donor ID and Badge qualify for the use of privileges to a slightly different extent.

Before the cells are harvested for transplantation to the recipient, it is necessary to spend time on the necessary procedures and tests. At this stage, the potential donor can take advantage of the privileges that he does not incur additional costs and does not have to worry about the consequences of being absent from work, university or school.

• the service provider grants these benefits out of turn based on the waiting list it maintains;

• the service provider provides these benefits on the day of notice;

• if the provision of the service is not possible on the day of notification, the service provider sets a date other than the order of acceptance resulting from the queue maintained by him;

• outpatient specialized care assistance cannot be provided later than 7 working days from the date of notification.

Eligible persons use health care services upon presentation of an appropriate document confirming the identity of the donor and his/her eligibility.
A person who has an “Honorary Transplant Donor” badge can receive free of charge (up to the amount of the funding limit) medicines included in the list of reimbursable medicines and the list of medicines that can be used in connection with blood donation (vitamins, folic acid and iron preparations) - on the basis of a prescription and upon presentation of an honorary transplant donor certificate. - Source: Ministry of Health, National Health Fund.

In some cities, people who have donated bone marrow or blood and have documents confirming this can use public transport for free, as well as enjoy discounts, for example, when buying an annual ticket. To use privileges in public transport, you must present a document proving the identity of the donor.

What is the registration procedure in the bone marrow donor database?

Individuals wishing to become bone marrow donors must order a registration package via the Internet, which is delivered to the address provided. Then you need to take a smear and fill out the form attached to the registration package.

The swab should be taken from the inside of the cheek according to the attached instructions, after which the package should be returned. The swab taken will be subjected to a tissue compatibility test, after which the data will be entered into a database of potential donors. Placing data in the database of potential donors is tantamount to an active search for a transplant recipient. From now on, a potential donor can wait for information about histocompatibility and the need to appear for preliminary examinations and bone marrow sampling.

Registration in the database of potential donors does not mean that we cannot refuse to donate our cells to a sick person. The procedure related to tissue compatibility and preparation of the donor for cell collection begins after confirmation of the willingness to help the patient. If, for example, due to random situations, pregnancy, illness or other circumstances, a potential donor cannot start testing, he does not have to fear any consequences.

However, it is worth remembering that the decision to become a potential donor should be well thought out. neven if the donor confirms his willingness to help a sick person, transplantation does not always happen. The final decision is made after preliminary tests, the results of which may interfere with the transplant.

Participation in the preparatory procedure itself gives you the right to enjoy certain privileges, being the basis for:

• reimbursement of expenses associated with the passage of the initial examination,

• reimbursement of expenses associated with obtaining a bone marrow sampling,

• reimbursement of food expenses during examinations and bone marrow sampling.

The same privileges can be enjoyed by a person accompanying a potential donor during the initial examination and bone marrow sampling.

At the pre-procedural stage, a potential donor can also take a fully paid day off. According to Art. 92 § 1 clause 3 of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation for the period of incapacity for work of an employee caused by the need to undergo the necessary medical examinations provided for candidates for donors of cells, tissues and organs, and the time of the procedure for collecting cells, tissues and organs. bodies - during the period specified in paragraph 1 - the employee retains the right to 100% remuneration.

To sum up, if you want to become a potential bone marrow or stem cell donor, you must register in the donor database. This can be done from the comfort of your home by ordering a registration package that includes an application form and an inner cheek swab collection kit.

Pap smear is a painless procedure that allows tests for the determination of histocompatibility antigens. From that moment on, a person who has expressed a desire to become a donor is considered when looking for a recipient.