Civil servants urged to donate stem cells Last Updated(Beijing Time):2012-03-13 10:37
China should mobilize civil servants to donate their hemopoietic stem cells to help people with life-threatening blood diseases, proposed a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee.
The publicity campaign mobilizing civil servants to donate would also allow them to develop a more intimate relationship with citizens, said Guo Changjiang, vice-president of the Red Cross Society of China, according to Beijing Times.
Statistics from the China Marrow Donor Program show that more than 20,000 civil servants donated their stem cells by the end of 2011, accounting for 0.33 percent of civil servants in China.
On the whole, the China Marrow Donor Program collected 1.46 million stem cell blood samples by the end of 2011, accounting for 0.11 percent of the population. The stock is limited compared to other countries.
At present there are nearly 1 million blood disease patients in China in need of a transplant of stem cells. Since it's difficult to find two sets of stem cells compatible enough for a transplant, a much larger stem cell pool is needed, according to medical experts.