Seema Malhotra MP today attended a local event where students were encouraged to become potential lifesavers.
Last month the Feltham and Heston MP introduced a 10 Minute Rule Bill into the House of Commons calling for blood, organ and bone marrow donation education for over 16s in schools and colleges, and today the campaign has reached Lampton School.
Volunteers from blood cancer charity Anthony Nolan visited the Hounslow School to deliver a presentation to students. This is part of its Register and Be a Lifesaver (R&Be) education programme, which teaches 16-18 year old students about the importance of donation.
Seema says, ‘Education about blood, organ, and bone marrow donation is essential for giving young people the information and awareness to make the decision to be a donor, and enable the NHS to save more lives. Introducing this education is a vital measure for securing a long-term solution to address the donor shortage. Increasing the range of donors is also vital; people from ethnic minority backgrounds have just a 40% chance of finding a bone marrow donor compared to 90% for a white northern European person.’
Anthony Nolan uses its register to match potential bone marrow donors to blood cancer patients in desperate need of a bone marrow transplant.
A bone marrow donation can be a cure for people with blood cancer, such as leukaemia. Joining the bone marrow register involves filling in a form and giving a saliva sample. In 90% of cases, the donation procedure is similar to giving blood.
Katie Campling, the Register and Be a Lifesaver Supervisor at Anthony Nolan, says, ‘It is fantastic to see local schools and politicians engaged with our education programme about donation. We know that young people make the best donors so it’s brilliant so see students so engaged with the cause. We hope that more schools in London will sign up to our education programme.’
Mike Bates, Acting Head of Sixth Form at Lampton School, says, ‘It was fantastic to see our students so passionate about the opportunity to save a life. I would thoroughly recommend the programme to any schools thinking of hosting a Register and Be a Lifesaver presentation.’
You can find out more about the Register and Be a Lifesaver education programme.