Tbilisi City Hall to finance first stem cell donors registry in Georgia

Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze on Wednesday said a stem cell donors registry would be established in Georgia and financed by the Tbilisi City Hall.

Kaladze noted that all interested individuals could apply to the City Hall with appropriate documents to be included in the donor bank and for conducting necessary research.

The creation of the stem cell donors registry will contribute to the implementation of allogeneic bone marrow transplantation in Georgia. This is an important factor for patients and their families, as it will alleviate their financial and emotional burden”, he noted.

The creation of the stem cell donors bank in the country is carried out in cooperation with and support of the World Marrow Donor Association.

Last year, representatives of the [WMDA] organisation visited our country, held meetings at the Ministry of Health and the Tbilisi City Hall and [we] agreed on further specific steps to be taken”, Kaladze pointed out, adding volunteers would undergo determination of bone marrow human leukocyte antigen and other studies.

To create the registry of stem cell donors, it is required to have a volunteer donors database, for which it is necessary to research potential donors, Kaladze noted, adding the volunteers should be tested for human leukocyte antigen, hepatitis C and B, which would be fully financed by the Tbilisi City Hall.