Bone Marrow Drive Targets Minorities

There was an upbeat atmosphere in the basement of St. Paul's Church on Bow St. yesterday as potential bone marrow donors flowed through Asian American Brotherhood (AAB)'s inaugural bone marrow drive.

Despite the success of yesterday's drive, organizers said the number of minority bone marrow donors nationwide--who provide transplants for those with leukemia and other blood diseases--is critically low.

Because the donated marrow must have an almost exact genetic match with the patient, it usually requires that the donor come from the same ethnic group as the recipient.

"While there are a surplus of Caucasian bone marrow [potential donors]...there is a huge need for minority donors right now, especially Asian-Americans," said Chris T. Tan '02, an AAB member.

Response to the drive exceeded expectations. Between six and 12 samples per person were collected from 47 people from diverse ethnicities.

"We're delighted with the response from students. The Asian American Brotherhood has been fantastic in educating students and convincing them to join the program," said Kathy A. Scranton, who was staffing the drive.

The success of yesterday's event was reminiscent of an earlier effort led by Harvard students to collect Asian- American bone marrow.

In October of 1997, the Chinese Students Association spearheaded a collection of Asian students' blood to donate to the national marrow donor pool.

The catalyst for the drive came when Alan Kuo '95, an Asian American Harvard alumni, needed a bone marrow donor to save his life.

"[That] drive was a total success. it exceeded all our expectations," said Andrew Chung '99, the association's former president.

"It was a great way to get students aware of the situation...[and] the sense of desperation within the Asian community," he said.

Though the transplant itself is a complicated procedure, the screening is relatively painless.

First, all potential donors are given a short oral interview and some paperwork, and then a small amount of blood is drawn.

This blood is sent to a national database. If the marrow matches that of a patient seeking a transplant, the donor will receive a call and be asked to undergo a bone marrow extraction.

The marrow is then transplanted into someone suffering from a deadly blood disease--and in many cases, can save a life.

Donors say the benefits far outweigh the inconvenience of giving blood.

"I guess the only reason not to donate would be out of fear, which is really stupid when it's put in perspective, when you compare that to a person's life," said donor John Y. Hsu '03.

The idea for the AAB event came after member Solomon Liou '02 saw a call for minority-targeted bone marrow drives on the Internet. The request came from the Asian American Donor Program (AADP), a division of the National Marrow Donor Program, a California-based organization created to increase the pool of bone marrow donors.

After discussing the idea, AAB member Stephen W. Chang '02 turned to Mutsuko Holiman, who was establishing a New England chapter of the AADP.

Holiman, who helped the group coordinate yesterday's drive, praised the AAB's enthusiasm.

"I came out to meet [the AAB] and found they're very motivated, they want this to be one the their big events," Holiman said. "They're starting something very exciting; the bone marrow drives are going to continue."

This was the first major community service event of the AAB, which just received University recognition last month.

The idea of the group, partly modeled after the Black Men's Forum, is to promote unity among Asian American men. "We all have a unique identity as Asian American men, and we want to...help the community [as well]," said Lonnie Everson '02, the AAB public relations director.

"We wanted to take dedication to the Asian American community further, with service that directly benefits Asian-Americans," Everson added.