After the death of Westerwelle Greater willingness to bone marrow donation

Cooking mark donation: Westerwelle death ensures a higher donation readiness
According to a media report after the death of former Federal Foreign Minister and FDP Chairman Guido Westerwelle willingness to donate bone marrow has increased. The politician had died as a result of his blood cancer illness.

Since Westerwelle's death, more donors have registered
The death of former Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has triggered an increased willingness to donate bone marrow. This is reported by the "Bild am Sonntag" (BaS). The former FDP leader died on 18 March at the age of 54 years of leukemia. According to the newspaper, about 17,000 potential donors have since registered with the German Bone Marrow Donor Database (DKMS). This was 5,000 more than the week before.

After the death of former Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle, the willingness to donate stem cells has increased. The politician had died of blood cancer. (Image: benjaminnolte / fotolia.com)

Already announcement of the illness provided for higher donation readiness
The day after the death of the politician, it was 4,265 donors, three to four times as many as on other days. Even when Westerwelle's illness became known in 2014, there were more bone marrow donors according to media reports than the year before. In addition, the DKMS recorded a significant increase in registrations for stem cell donation, after the FDP politician published a book last November about his illness and reported on television, among others.

Stem cell donation can save lives
At present, 6.2 million potential donors are registered at DKMS worldwide, and nearly 50,000 have donated before. Time and again, health experts point out: Stem cell donation can save lives. In principle, every healthy adult between the ages of 18 and 55 can become a stem cell donor. On the DKMS website you can check if you are a donor. Criteria for excluding a donation include cardiovascular diseases such as heart attacks, metabolic diseases such as diabetes, cancers or severe kidney disease. (Ad)