In The News

New test kit launched for potential bone marrow donors

New test kit launched for potential bone marrow donors

A leading charity has launched a new test kit which it hopes will speed up the recruitment of potential bone marrow donors.

The Anthony Nolan Trust hopes the initiative will double the number of lives saved.

The new kit involves potential donors sending a saliva sample to be tested for compatibility, instead of a blood sample being taken.

The leukaemia charity is the first in the world to use the system.

Henny Braund, the Chief Executive of the Trust, said: “We provide two potentially life-saving transplants every day, but there is an equal number that we cannot currently help. We urgently need to increase the number of people on our register”.

The charity decided to use the kit after its researchers found that saliva is just as good for tissue-typing as blood.

To arrange for a test kit to be posted to your home please go to the Anthony Nolan Trust website.

 

 

View previous In the News items: Lock of hair from Napoleon is sold, The man behind Swatch watches dies, Long serving US Politician passes away or Man dies in County Fermanagh road accident

 

If you have a relative or a friend who has passed away and feel they should be mentioned in our In the News section, then please email us.