7 out of 10 patients who need a blood-forming cell transplant (bone marrow) do not find a compatible donor in their family, therefore it is necessary to look for this compatibility in unrelated people. Genetic similarity is necessary for the procedure to be successful.

The District Institute of Science, Biotechnology and Innovation in Health IDCBIS, linked to the Health Sector of the Capital District, is carrying out a database of potential donors who could save the lives of patients with diseases such as leukemia, among other serious blood diseases. 

The only way to find a compatible, non-family donor is to have previously identified the genetic characteristics of a population and store them in a database, so that the patient's medical team can search for a possible donor. This database is called the National Registry of Hematopoietic Progenitor Cell Donors.

This type of initiative is already being carried out in other countries such as Japan, New Zealand, the United States and more. In Latin America it has been carried out in Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay. For the first time Colombia will have a donor registry.

Since January 21, 2019, the DarCélulas program began, in which the processes of pre-registration and registration to the Registry were organized, as well as the communication to invite people interested in becoming potential donors in this first stage, subsequently when there is an optimal number of donors, the specialists who attend patients who require a transplant will be able to consult the Registry.  

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In the online pre-registration stage, through the web page www.idcbis.org.co, Colombians can find out much more about the process, as well as schedule an appointment for registration, then to formalize the registration the interested party attends in person at the IDCBIS District Blood Bank where blood samples will be taken to know their genetic information and to register it in the database that is being built. For now the registration process is only available in Bogota.

The resulting database in all registries at international level is available for searches, therefore there have already been successful cases of transplantation in Colombia, thanks to donors registered in other countries. This initiative in our country would give us the possibility of having Colombian donors, with a greater possibility of being compatible with patients in the same territory, since there is a greater possibility of having similar genetic characteristics.

*On August 22nd at 11:00 a.m. the presenter and journalist, Carlos Calero who is a brand ambassador for DarCélulas will attend the IDCBIS District Blood Bank to register for the program and explain to the public the importance of donating blood-forming cells.