Bone marrow donor and recipient met at the RUSSIA EXPO

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On the National Blood Donor Day at the "In the Service of Health!" venue of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation at the RUSSIA EXPO gathered those who know more about donation than anyone else: hematology and transfusion medics, patients after blood transfusion and bone marrow transplantation and the main heroes of the day - blood and bone marrow donors.

At the meeting they publicly talked about donation and how each of us can save someone's life.

The participants of the event were Tatyana Vladimirovna Gaponova, transfusiologist, First Deputy Director General of the NMRC of Hematology of the Ministry of Health of Russia, chief out-of-state transfusion specialist of Russia, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Olga Alexandrovna Alyoshina, hematologist, Head of the Department of Cellular and Immune Therapy at the NMRC of the Ministry of Health of Russia, Candidate of Medical Sciences, as well as Vsevolod Kushchinsky, a regular blood donor, TV journalist, producer, Anna Belyanina, a psychologist who underwent a bone marrow transplant two years ago, and Anna Bolsunovskaya, a blood and bone marrow donor. Anna has more than 110 donations of blood and its components on her account.

The main event was a public online meeting of the bone marrow donor-recipient pair.

The meeting between bone marrow donor Temerlan Abdulaev and recipient Alexandra Sakhnenko took place for the first time and was held according to the current rules in the medical community: after two years. All the donor and patient know about each other is gender and age.

"After joining the bone marrow donor register, I literally waited every day to find my genetic twin: I was always interested in this. The call came three years later - it made me rethink my life," shared Temerlan Abdulaev.

"Temerlan turned out to be the only person who was able to save me. I experienced all the feelings one can experience: joy, fear, endless happiness and gratitude," Alexandra Sakhnenko added.

Bone marrow transplantation becomes the last chance for patients with oncologic blood diseases, when other methods of therapy do not work, said Olga Alyoshina, hematologist, Head of the Department of Cellular and Immune Therapy at the NMRC of the Ministry of Health of Russia. She also told about the procedure of bone marrow intake.

"About 25 thousand people in Russia annually face diseases of hematopoietic tissues and lymphatic system. About five thousand people out of them need transplantation. Bone marrow can be obtained either from family members or from unrelated donors. In the latter case, the chance of compatibility is 1:10 000. The Russian register of bone marrow donors helps in finding a suitable donor. Today there are 334 thousand people in it, and it continues to grow," said Olga Alyoshina.

Donor blood is no less important: it cannot be replaced by anything, as it is a prerequisite for the survival of many patients, said Tatyana Gaponova, transfusiologist, First Deputy Director General of the NMRC of Hematology of the Ministry of Health of Russia, chief out-of-state transfusion specialist of Russia. She told about the procedure of blood donation and explained the current rules.

"For many people, donor blood is the only chance to survive. Today it cannot be replaced by anything. Without it, no high-tech treatment methods, no targeting medications will help save the patient's life. It just has to be available. That is why donation is mutual help and a quiet feat for the sake of others," said Tatyana Gaponova.