MP appeals for young men to join stem cell register

6th September 2011
MP appeals for young men to join stem cell register

Gordon Henderson MP is urging for young men in Sittingbourne and Sheppey to join the Anthony Nolan stem cell register. Mr Henderson has joined other politicians in pledging to recruit at least ten men each between the ages to 18 and 30.

Anthony Nolan is a pioneering charity that saves the lives of people with blood cancer. Every day, they use their register to match remarkable donors willing to donate their blood stem cells to people who desperately need potentially lifesaving transplants.

However, there is a shortage of young male donors on the bone marrow register. Men aged 18-30 account for 80% of donations, but make up just 19% of the register. Presently, Anthony Nolan can only find a matching donor for half the people who come to them in desperate need of a lifesaving transplant so this summer they are aiming to recruit 10,000 more young men to the register.

Anthony Nolan has provided every MP with a unique code to give to constituents so the charity can track how many young men MPs have recruited. Young men interested in the chance to save someone’s life should go to mp.anthonynolan.org and enter the code: N9BE.

Mr Henderson said,

“There are 1600 people in the UK in need of a potentially lifesaving stem cell transplant. By joining the Anthony Nolan Register, these young men will be offering patients the chance of life and a new hope to their families.

“As somebody whose own mother died of blood cancer at a very early age I urge any young males within my constituency who would like to join the register to log onto the website as soon as possible.”