Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 27, 1995 TAG: 9502270079
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MARY BISHOP STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
About 1.5 million Americans are registered as bone marrow donors, but only six percent are African Americans, according to Diana Meadows of the American Red Cross. Black people, therefore, have a tough time finding marrow to help them combat leukemia, aplastic anemia and 60 other diseases.
Black patients received only two percent of the approximately 3,000 marrow transplants done so far in the United States, Meadows said.
Tony "Tiga" Ellis was one of 10 people who let a Red Cross nurse take a blood sample Sunday so they could become part of the registry. "If people can go downtown and give blood, they can come here and do a little test like this," said the morning deejay at Roanoke radio station WTOY.
The drive for black registrants at the Harrison Museum of African American Culture was organized by the Red Cross, Dr. Pink Wimbish III and Dr. Jacquelyn Jacobs, husband-and-wife podiatrists representing African Americans Uniting for Life, a national group trying to raise the number of black registrants.
The number of blacks on the list is so low, Wimbish said, that the Department of the Navy and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute provided grants to run drives like this around the country. Blood samples were sought from healthy men and women between 18 and 55 years of age.
The characteristics of marrow are inherited, like hair, eye or skin color. But Wimbish said many people wrongly believe that if a relative ever needs bone marrow, someone in the family probably will have marrow suitable for a transplant. But in 70 per cent of cases, he said, matching marrow isn't found within the family.
It's possible for an African American patient to match a donor from any racial or ethnic group, but the most likely match is with a person of African American ancestry.
Wimbish and Jacobs went on the national registry at Roanoke's first marrow drive for African Americans a year ago. As yet, there have been no requests for their marrow. If there is, the request could come from far away. Meadows says the national program works with marrow organizations in 15 countries.
Harrison Museum curator Aletha Bolden joined the registry at that drive, and Sunday the newlywed's husband, Vernie Bolden Jr., joined her on the rolls. Another local drive probably will be held within a year.
For information on how to register now, call Diana Meadows at 703/985-3512, or the National Marrow Donor Program at1/800/MARROW-2.
by CNB