Cord Blood Association

The link to the Zoom conversation between Cord Blood Association board members and umbilical cord blood bank representatives in Kyiv:

https://youtu.be/kDsUlVljpEs

EBMT message

The EBMT is deeply concerned about the Russian invasion in #Ukraine and the impact that this is having on civilians and #patients in the affected regions. In line with EBMT’s mission, vision and values, and an overwhelming need to help, EBMT is committed to helping Ukraine's patients as part of the EBMT Ukrainian Crisis Assistance Program (UCAP).

The #EBMT Board has unanimously agreed to allocate funding for the UCAP, which will endeavor to support and care for Ukrainian transplant and #cellulartherapy candidates by linking EBMT transplant centres that can treat these patients.

Is your centre willing to volunteer its services and host patients requiring #HSCT and/or cellular therapy? Please get in touch with us ASAP!

Open letter from the World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) to condemn the war in Ukraine and to ensure that health services can continue to provide care to all patients in need of a transplant  - March 3

Our community believes in collaboration, integration and democracy. Through acts of aggression by Russian military forces, we see these values being threatened and eroded. WMDA calls on all stakeholders to strongly condemn the violence, bombing, killings, and disruption to essential services resulting from this conflict.

WMDA asks that all parties respect international humanitarian law by ensuring swift and safe delivery of cellular products to all patients who need a transplant and to ensure access to care and medicinal products for patients needing complex transplant treatments, such as those with blood cancer.

We stand for our colleagues, friends, families, donors and patients impacted by this tragedy and we continue to support all of our members during this difficult time.

EUPHA statement: Health is at stake in the Ukraine invasion - February 25

EUPHA unreservedly condemns the invasion of Ukraine by armed forces. As a public health organisation, it notes that the invasion poses important threats to health in the immediate future and the longer term:

  1. a) As set out in the 1986 Ottawa Charter, peace is the first prerequisite for health. The invasion has already led to unnecessary deaths among the Ukrainian people and the invading forces, including an attack on a hospital, a clear violation of the Geneva Conventions;
  2. b) The invasion, with the inevitable displacement of people, destruction of infrastructure, and disruption of trade will have severe economic consequences for the people of Ukraine, many of whom have been living precarious lives, with obvious implications for their health;
  3. c) The invasion is a clear threat to the democratically elected government of Ukraine. The democratic process is a means by which the health needs of a population can be turned into policies, with clear evidence that it contributes positively to health.

Furthermore, EUPHA notes:

  1. a) the repeated efforts by the Ukrainian government and by western leaders to prevent this act of unprovoked aggression;
  2. b) the right, under Article 51 of the UN Charter, of the Ukrainian government to take action in self-defence.

EUPHA calls for:

  1. a) An immediate cessation of hostilities, followed rapidly by a withdrawal from the territory of Ukraine, supervised by international monitors from either the United Nations or Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe; Page 2/2
  2. b) Respect for the Geneva Conventions, and in particular the protection of health workers and facilities;
  3. c) Full implementation of the Minsk II agreement; and
  4. d) Respect for the rights of those in the Russian Federation who are calling for peace.

EUPHA further stands in solidarity with its member associations in countries that may also face future threats from external aggression, and especially those in the Baltic states.

Joint Statement on behalf of American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, EBMT and WBMT - March 3

The American Society of Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT), European Society for Blood Marrow Transplantation (EBMT), and Worldwide Network for Blood Marrow Transplantation (WBMT) firmly condemns the war started by Russian military forces in Ukraine. In particular, ASTCT, EBMT, and WBMT request that peace negotiations prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable Ukrainian people. Casualties among innocent civilians increase by the minute, including children. Patients with severe conditions, such as those with cancer or undergoing life-saving transplants, are currently affected by lack of medications and medical supplies, limited ability to travel to hospitals, lack of adequate nutrition. Healthcare providers and hospital staff in Kyiv remain in their hospitals to treat the patients in shelters, while bombs continue to hit the city.

ASTCT, EBMT, and WBMT joins the international community and requests that:

a) safe corridors can be established for patients and providers to travel to the hospital;

b) international organizations can be allowed to ship medical supplies;

c) patients whose care cannot be completed in Ukraine at this time may be allowed to travel to foreign countries offering to host them.

ASTCT, EBMT, and WBMT expresses its solidarity to all the Ukrainian healthcare providers, friends and supporters worldwide, and hopes all the states currently engaged in wars will agree on the value of dialogue and peace that should not have borders.

WHO Update

How you can help

Do you need support to transport cells?

You can reach out to the WMDA International Emergency Task Force, contact them here: https://share.wmda.info/x/PqKbEw

Please find an overview of the contact details of WMDA member organisations below:

Prepare your registry for internet connection failure, and print the list with the contact details of WMDA member organisations. Find the overview here. 

Message from the Ukrainian Bone Marrow Registry - March 4

Today russia attacked with bombs the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The largest one in Europe. We refer to all bone marrow registers in the world.

  • Appeal to your governments and your people to support Ukraine in the war with Russia.
  • Ask which of your transplant centres can take Ukrainian patients (priority children) for free bone marrow transplantation so that we understand where they can go. Ukraine's transplant program has been stopped due to Russia's military attack on Ukraine.
  • Help financially, the money will be spent on revitalizing of Ukrainian bone marrow registry after the war, in extreme cases, on humanitarian aid in Ukraine.
  • If you see an opportunity to help the Bone Marrow registry in Ukraine with something else, please contact us - we are open and thank you for any help.
    ubmdregistry@gmail.com

Message from DKMS Polska - March 3

Help for oncological children from Ukraine. 🇺🇦 #SolidarnizUkrainą

We supported the initiative of the Polish Society of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology, organizing medical transport for sick children from Ukraine so that they could continue treatment in Poland. Thanks to the great commitment of Professor Wojciech Młynarski, numerous patient organizations from Polish and Ukraine and our foundation, on the night of March 1, two small oncological patients went to the Department of Pediatrics, Oncology, Hematology and Diabetology of the Medical University of Łódź. A disabled 6-year-old girl and her mother, who fled Kharkov before the war, are temporarily accommodated in a private apartment. Two more children with cancer were transported to clinics in Lublin and Krakow yesterday. Further transports for children requiring specialist medical assistance during the border– hospital route are in preparation.

"The current situation in Ukraine required quick action to help small oncological patients and transport them to Polish hospitals where they will receive medical assistance. In cooperation with Professor Wojciech Młynarski, we managed to organize the first medical transports tailored to their needs. Help has no borders – this slogan has been with us since the beginning of our activity, and in recent days it has gained special importance." – says Ewa Magnucka-Bowkiewicz, President of the DKMS Foundation.

The Polish Society of Pediatric Oncology and Hematology has launched a hotline for doctors and parents from Ukraine (also in Ukrainian) regarding the possibility of treating children in Poland.

If you have information about a patient in need of help, please contact us via: 📧 sekretariat@ptohd.pl and telephone numbers: 📞 Polish /English – 887 662 886, Ukrainian – 887 669 934.




Our thoughts and prayers are with our colleagues and friends in Ukraine, we hope this conflict will end as soon as possible with minimal casualties.


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