Every 12 minutes, someone in Germany receives the devastating diagnosis of blood cancer, and every 27 seconds worldwide. Blood cancer remains the most common form of cancer in children. Many patients cannot survive without a life-saving stem cell donation, and the search for suitable donors always begins a race against time. The faster a match is found, the greater the patient’s chance of survival.
The DKMS is an international non-profit organization whose goal is to give as many blood cancer patients worldwide as possible a second chance at life. It was founded in Germany in 1991 by Dr. Peter Harf and has since ensured that more and more patients receive a life-saving stem cell donation.
More than 12.5 million potential donors are registered with the DKMS, and to date, the organization has facilitated more than 120,000 stem cell donations. In addition to Germany, DKMS is active in the USA, Poland, the UK, Chile, India, and South Africa.
Through international projects and aid programs, DKMS provides even more people worldwide with access to life-saving therapy. Furthermore, DKMS is committed to medicine, science, and research to improve patients’ chances of recovery. In its high-performance laboratory, the DKMS Life Science Lab, the organization sets global standards for the typing of potential stem cell donors to find the perfect match for a transplant.
