The Japanese Red Cross Society may ask blood donors to simultaneously register with the bone-marrow bank when they donate blood, Red Cross officials said Saturday.
The number of people registered with the bone-marrow bank, an institution that helps people with leukemia and other serious blood diseases, has stayed flat at around 180,000 in recent years.
The Japan Marrow Donor Program is hopeful that the move by the Red Cross may boost the number of registered marrow donors by nearly 30,000 on an annual basis. The government believes that the marrow bank needs to maintain a registration of around 300,000 to meet its needs.
The chances of finding a matching donor for a patient -- other than from among his or her blood relatives -- are very slim. Finding a donor with a matching white blood cell type is crucial in preventing immunological rejection associated with marrow transplants.
The officials said about 15 percent of patients who need a marrow transplant are unable to find matching donors, forcing many of them to give up the treatment option.
The Red Cross may call on blood donors to register with the marrow bank via a small pamphlet distributed at blood donation centers.