Running head: BONE MARROW DONATION: A PUBLIC SERVICE CAMPAIGN
Bone Marrow Donation: a Public Service Campaign
Sammi Charpentier
Alex Overschmidt
Carolyn Maddock
Jackie Pashia
Fontbonne University
BONE MARROW DONATION: A PUBLIC SERVICE CAMPAIGN
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According to the Health Resource and Service Administration (HRSA), each year close
to 20,000 individuals in the United States, ranging from 0 to 74 years of age, could benefit from
a life-saving bone marrow transplant. Additionally, the Health Resource and Service
Administration (HRSA) also states that 3,544 of those transplants will be provided by a relative
of patient while 4,926 will be provided by a volunteer donor (HRSA, n.d.). With those numbers
staying consistent year after year, it is important to bring light to need for bone marrow donation.
Raising awareness for bone marrow donation can be achieved through a public service campaign
that includes outreach activities aimed towards the targeted audience. By increasing the
awareness of the vital need for bone marrow donations, more individuals will be educated on the
process of registering to donate and if able, become a donor, and ultimately truthfully follow
through with the donation when a match is found. Be The Match states that, along with the
National Marrow Donor Program, for the past 25 years they work every day to save lives
through transplant. Volunteering to donate all started in 1974 when 10-year-old Laura Graves
received the first ever bone marrow transplant from an unrelated donor. Within the first year
after Graves’ transplant, 10,000 individuals registered to donate. Be The Match aims to inform
individuals that, the cure for blood cancer is in the hands of ordinary people (Be The Match,
2016).
A public service campaign is necessary for bone marrow donation largely due to the fact
that it can be a daunting task for both the donor and the recipient. There are negative stigmas that
surround bone marrow donation and it is important to ease minds while simultaneously
educating the public so more people are compelled to donate. According to Katharina Harf, the
executive vice president in the U.S. of the German-based bone marrow organization DKMS,
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“The national average is that 47 percent of people say no when asked to donate” (ABC News,
2010). While not every “no” received is because the individual does not want to donate, it is still
a high number and if more people were aware of the process they could be more likely to say
yes. The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society estimate that 171,550 people will be diagnosed with
Leukemia, Lymphoma, or Myeloma in 2016, and approximately every three minutes one person
in the United States is diagnosed with blood cancer. For those suffering with these diseases, a
bone marrow transplant could potentially be the only thing stopping them from potentially
recovering from such a terrible illness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate
that Sickle Cell Disease affects approximately 100,000 Americans, and it is another disease that
could potentially be eased with the help of a bone marrow transplant. If people continue to be
uneducated about the topic of bone marrow donations and those who desperately need them, the
