More step forward to donate bone marrow in Singapore

: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox Psychiatrist and recovered transplant recipient Daniel Kwek taking part in the 2.5km Walk the Talk walkathon organised (BMDP) at Bidadari Park on Oct 31. ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM Zhaki Abdullah Updated Oct 31, 2026, PM Set as preferred source Listen Summarise中文 BMDP said 71 bone marrow donations were done in Singapore in 2026, already above the 57 from the whole of 2025. Minister Tan See Leng said only about 20% of 500 yearly hospital requests lead to a transplant. He urged a bigger, more varied donor register because many cases fail for health or match reasons. The donor network is growing, with 130,000 registered donors and 48 corporate partners. AI generated SINGAPORE – More people here are donating their bone marrow, with the Bone Marrow Donor Programme (BMDP) facilitating 71 such donations here so far in 2026. This is more than the 57 recorded for the whole of 2025. This was announced 31 at Match for Life 2026, a walkathon organised . The increase reflects growing transplant needs, greater use of local donors and BMDP’s efforts to make transplants more accessible to patients, the programme said. BMDP is a non-profit organisation that builds and manages Singapore’s only register of volunteer marrow donors. Once a match is found, these donors can be asked to donate to patients with leukaemia or other blood diseases. While BMDP now has more than 130,000 registered donors on its registry, donor dropout is still the programme’s greatest challenge, said Loh. As at end-September, 247 potential donors had agreed to proceed when contacted, moving patients a step closer to a life-saving transplant. The number of organisations under BMDP’s corporate partner programme has also grown from 26 when it was launched in 2025 to 48 in 2026. Under the programme, organisations support employees who wish to donate their bone marrow, such as . About 800 people took part in the walkathon, including 262 registered marrow donors, 12 of whom have already donated marrow or stem cells to patients in need. Among those taking part was psychiatrist Daniel Kwek, 60, who in October 2018 discovered a red patch on his knee. He initially thought it was cellulitis, a common bacterial skin infection. It was actually a sign of acute myeloid leukaemia – a rare, aggressive blood cancer that develops in the bone marrow, whose symptoms can include bruising or spots on the skin. Married with a son, he said: “One of the first things I did when I was diagnosed was to call a lawyer friend to help me draft a will, because you never know what might happen.” Kwek added that he was unprepared for how difficult the process of chemotherapy would be.