In search of a life-saving stem-cell donor

Her struggle is echoed by thousands of Indians diagnosed with various life-threatening blood disorders looking for a match on India’s growing, but grossly insufficient, donor database.

Pune-born Singapore resident Melissa Nazareth has spent the last few months trying to find a matched stem-cell donor, which is the only way to cure myeloid leukaemia (a blood cancer) she was diagnosed with last year. Her struggle is echoed by thousands of Indians diagnosed with various life-threatening blood disorders looking for a match on India’s growing, but grossly insufficient, donor database.

Melissa Nazareth, diagnosed with myeloid leukaemia, needs a life-saving stem-cell match (HT Photo)

Before she was diagnosed, Melissa (50) spent her time working as the head of human resources at HERE Technologies APAC in Singapore and looking after her 7-year-old son and husband. Since then, “a normal day looks very different, because now I am just shuffling between the hospital, home, and trying to look for a match,” said Melissa.

Of those looking for stem-cell donors, like Melissa, 75% don’t find a full match among their blood relatives and have to look for unrelated matches. This is where DATRI, India’s largest unrelated blood stem cell donor registry, comes in. DATRI seeks to build awareness, clear misconceptions about donor risks, and enrol potential stem-cell donors in its registry. Becoming a part of this registry is as simple as filling out a form and doing a cheek swab.

Having lived in Singapore for almost four years now, Nazareth still says that “When it comes down to my family and friends, my home is still India.” Her parents and grandparents are from Goa, but she was schooled in Pune where she also completed her under-graduation, post-graduation and worked her first job. However, Indians diagnosed with blood-related diseases are more vulnerable than Caucasians. Gayathri Shenoy, head of patient relations at DATRI, said, “The total number of Indians registered across all registries in India is less than five lakh, which is a mere drop in the ocean.”

Since the chances of finding a match for Nazareth are significantly higher among those from her own country, she, among countless others, desperately needs other Indians to register with DATRI.

“When a Caucasian looks for a donor, they get three to five hits. And for us, we rarely get a single one, and even to get that one is so difficult,” said Melissa.

You can register with DATRI as a potential donor for Melissa, and countless others looking for a match, through this link: https://datri.org/you-may-be-melissa-nazareths-lifesaver/

To conduct registration and awareness drives, you can reach out to: Gayathri Shenoy: +91 9884879392/ gayathri.s@datri.org