Foundation Casa GiáMaLa in Costa Rica reached an agreement with foundation DKMS of Germany, the biggest bone marrow donor center in the world, to have access to their data base and also import bone marrow.

Leukemia is very common form of cancer in the blood, many children and adults in Costa Rica are diagnosed with this disease every year; a bone marrow transplant is the best treatment option for many of these patients, but finding a compatible donor is not always possible.

DKMS currently has a record of seven million donors, willing to offer others a cure to their illness.

Importing one bone marrow has a cost of close to 9.5 million colones, close to $17,000.00 American dollars; GiáMaLa foundation also offers the possibility to collaborate with the families that don’t have the necessary resources.

DKMS has successfully arranged 60 thousand transplants in 50 countries. According to their data only 30% of all patients are able to find a compatible donor in their own family; 6 out of 10 patients will not receive a bone marrow transplant because of the inability to find a compatible donor.

If you are interested in registering as a bone marrow donor you can do so directly through DKMS, for more information, watch the video below: