Barcelona, Mar 30 (EFE).- The Bone Marrow Donor Registry (REDMO) increased by 21,903 donors during 2022, below the goal of 31,000 set by the National Transplant Organization (ONT), but in any case altruism allowed 854 patients from all over the world to benefit from a transplant last year.
The Josep Carreras Leukemia Foundation, which manages REDMO, has released last year’s report this Thursday, which includes all the work carried out in bone marrow transplantation.
6,400 people diagnosed with leukemia each year
Every year, 6,400 people are diagnosed with leukemia in Spain alone and many of them will need a bone marrow transplant to overcome the disease; Sometimes a relative is used, but 3 out of 4 patients will not have a relative who is compatible.
In these cases, REDMO searches its database for a registered donor who is compatible and organizes the extraction of the stem cells and their transport to the recipient, wherever they are.
But there is no possibility of helping and saving the life of a compatible patient if one does not first register with REDMO.
21,903 new bone marrow donors in 2022
In 2022, 21,903 new donors have joined REDMO, an insufficient figure to achieve the objective established by the National Bone Marrow Plan, of which the ONT, the Ministry of Health and the Josep Carreras Foundation are a part, of adding 36,000 donors and reach half a million.
With the incorporations of 2022, REDMO stays close, with 468,042 donors, which places Spain in thirteenth position worldwide and sixth in Europe.
In 2022, REDMO coordinated bone marrow transplants -from donors from all over the world- for 568 Spanish recipient patients, plus 28 lymphocyte infusions, with a small decrease of 5% compared to 2021 but still at maximum figures in the last decade. .
Regarding donations made in Spain for patients from all over the world -including Spaniards-, REDMO coordinated 320 transplants, 16% more than in 2021.
Overall, 854 patients from Spain and from around the world were recipients in 2022 of a bone marrow donation coordinated by REDMO.
Men are a minority in donations
Despite the fact that transplant centers preferentially request male donors for medical reasons, the current composition of the registry is still mostly female: only 36% are men.
In 2022, Spanish hospitals have requested REDMO for a total of 1,123 unrelated donor searches for national patients, 7% more than in 2021.
The average time to find a compatible donor has been 27 days and in 93% of the cases they have been located in a period of less than two months.