The Albanese Government, with state and territory Health Ministers, is increasing the number and diversity of bone marrow donors on the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry (ABMDR).
At the recent Health Ministers Meeting all governments agreed to help boost the supply of local bone marrow donations by releasing up to $4.2 million from the Cord Blood Export Revenue (CBER) fund.
Every 27 minutes in Australia someone will be diagnosed with a blood cancer such as leukaemia, myeloma or lymphoma and many will need a bone marrow transplant.
Australia’s pool for bone marrow donors is small which makes us heavily reliant on overseas supply.
This funding will save lives by increasing local bone marrow donor recruitment through more blood testing and cheek swabbing, and create a more diverse pool of donors.
The ABMDR and Australian Red Cross Lifeblood will each receive $1 million to drive an increase in bone marrow donors.
Other activities will help to strengthen the register by helping to better target future bone marrow donor recruitment and support the broader implementation of Australia’s National Haemopoietic Progenitor Cell (HPC) Framework.
All activities will help to ensure continued and improved access to bone marrow transplants for Australian patients.
This funding builds on Health Ministers release of $1 million from the CBER fund in February 2023 to increase bone marrow donor recruitment.
Quotes attributable to Minister Butler:
“Around 135,000 people are living with a blood cancer or blood disorder in Australia.
“Bone marrow donations are crucial for the life-saving treatments today for people who are fighting leukaemia and a range of other blood cancers.
“In the past, Australia has not moved fast enough to enable more effective matching of bone marrow donors with patients who need them.
“Today’s announcement delivers on the commitment made by the Albanese Government and all states and territories to strengthen our blood donor registry for the benefit of the many Australians who need a transplant each year.”
