Athens, 20 June 2017 – In the context of commencing their official partnership, IASO and the “ORAMA ELPIDAS” Association announced today the new Registration Center for Volunteer Bone Marrow Donors. At the same time, IASO, apart from the establishment of the new Registration Center for Volunteer Bone Marrow Donors, announced the expansion of its partnership with the “ORAMA ELPIDAS” Association by donating part of its proceeds from every childbirth taking place in IASO Clinic to support the Volunteer Bone Marrow Donor Bank, “ORAMA ELPIDAS”.

Both these new initiatives are part of IASO Group’s Corporate Responsibility Program, “by you”, through which IASO Group constantly supports vulnerable groups and significant actions undertaken by Associations and NGOs, by providing high quality medical services.

The aim of the new Registration Center for Volunteer Bone Marrow Donors at IASO is to find bone marrow donors for the purpose of transplanting children and adults suffering from severe diseases, such as leukemia, aplastic anemia, thalassemia. In this way, such patients are offered hope in life, as transplant is the only treatment method for these diseases.

IASO’s Registration Center for Volunteer Bone Marrow Donors will significantly contribute in addressing the problem of finding donors. In Greece, the number of Volunteer Bone Marrow Donors is small, and so the main search for volunteers, in case there is no compatible donor within a patient’s family, is conducted in foreign countries. At the same time, via the Center, public information and awareness on bone marrow transplant and, above all, the great importance of raising the number of volunteer donors in our country will be raised.

IASO Group’s Chair of BOD, Dr. Georgios Stamatiou, said: “We are proud to help in this significant effort of the “Orama Elpidas” Association. In this context, we are inaugurating IASO’s Registration Center for Volunteer Bone Marrow Donors, aiming not only at finding new volunteer donors, but also at raising the awareness and informing even more people on bone marrow transplant”.

UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador and Chair of the “ELPIDA” and “ORAMA ELPIDAS” Associations, Mrs Marianna V. Vardinoyannis, stated: “Through this initiative of yours to support our work, these newborns will become a vehicle for solidarity towards other less fortunate children. IASO offers parents the opportunity to engage in humanitarian and social responsibility acts, while its authority and leading role in the field of healthcare in our country renders IASO a major ally and fellow traveler. This is the reason why IASO’s initiative speaks deep to my heart”.

The registration procedure to become a bone marrow volunteer is simple, fast, and pain-free; the only thing required is a salivary sample collected via an ear swab. As Mr. Stelios Grafakos, Associate Professor of Pediatric Hematology, Scientific Director of the Volunteer Bone Marrow Donor Bank “ORAMA ELPIDAS”, Chief of the Department of Hematology at IASO Children’s Hospital, explains: “Anyone can be a bone marrow donor, as long as they are healthy and willing to spare a few minutes of their time to fill in an application and give a salivary sample via an ear swab. It is a seemingly small act that may prove to be precious and life-saving for a fellow human being. It is worth sparing a few minutes of our time – they may save a life.”

The Registration Center for Volunteer Bone Marrow Donors is housed at the Outpatient Department, located on the ground floor of IASO. Opening hours: Monday to Saturday, 08:00 to 16:00. Walk-in service. Contact number: +30 210 6184000 & 11777.

Be a donor and support the efforts of the Volunteer Bone Marrow Donor Bank “ORAMA ELPIDAS”!
Make the only hope of a fellow human being for life come true!

About the “ORAMA ELPIDAS” Association:

The “ORAMA ELPIDAS” Association was founded in 2012 by the Association of Friends of Children with Cancer “ELPIDA”, which, for 27 years now, under the leadership of the Chair of the Association, Mrs. Marianna V. Vardinoyannis, struggles to save children suffering from cancer. Its primary goal has been the operation of the Volunteer Bone Marrow Donor Bank, “ORAMA ELPIDAS”, which up to now numbers more than 45,000 volunteer donors, among whom 10 compatible donors have been found and 10 lives have been saved!

For more press information, please contact Ms Nancy Christopoulou, Department of Commercial Management at IASO Group, tel: +30 210 6383917 & 210 6502853, E-mail: [email protected]

For more information, please contact Ms Mika Papailiou, V+O Communication, tel.: +30 2107249000