YATW Blog #1 Shortage of Donors for African American, Latino, and Mixed People

Posted by Niah Lombo in English 1 - Dunn - X on

BLOG #1


               The Shortage of Donors for African American,Latino and Mixed people with cancer


                 


Hi my name is Niah Lombo and I go to Science Leadership Academy. I am a student in Miss.Dunn’s English class; In this class we were asked to research issues that are important to us and then express how we could bring awareness to others by starting a blog about it... This is the first of three blogs that I will be posting my thoughts & concerns. I choose to blog about the sad statistics of the shortage of bone marrow donors for African American,Latino and Mixed races with cancer.I am trying to bring awareness to this issue so more people will donate and save someones life.


Everyday thousands of people die from cancer because they can’t find a donor match.When you are diagnosed with cancer your family members have a 30% chance of being a match but the rest 70% is relied on strangers. Patients are most likely to find a compatible donor within their own racial and ethnic background.


"The truth is, when people of different backgrounds marry and produced offspring, it creates more types that are harder to match."



I am interested in this topic because when I was 9 years old my older sister was diagnosed with leukemia and later died because they could not find a donor in time.The doctors informed us because she was Latina, her chances were slim to find a match. There are so many other people with the same story; for example there is J’sons and Leni who is still looking for a match.The main issue is that minority children are dying because there are mainly Caucasian donors.


little Leni Hsiao, a 4-month-old girl who has endured incredible challenges since her birth.




This topic is significant because more children of ethnic backgrounds are diagnosed with cancer, and most of them die. In 2010 more than 400,000 African Americans, 300,000 Hispanic, and 290,000 mixed women’s died from cancer. Caucasians had the lowest number for death in 2010.


"So many donor programs has been pushing for years to recruit more racial minorities and mixed race donors. So far, multiracial volunteers make up just 3 percent of the 7 million people on the registry"


Caucasian patients have an almost 90% chance of finding a good match.  “ But minority patients have only about 45% chance” said Carol Gillespie, executive director of the Asian American Donor program in Alameda.




Percentage of ethnic groups on the national Registry:

  • African American, 7%

  • Asian/Pacific Islander, 7%

  • Hispanic, 10%

  • Native American, 1%

  • Multi-Racial, 4%

  • Caucasian, 73%



What I wonder is that how many more people need to die before everyone sees the issue that African Americans, Hispanics and mixed people are fighting for their lives every day hoping to find a match? As I go on with this project I hope to find ways that I could help to build awareness on this topic.


Bibliography here:


Comments (5)

Damir Hunley (Student 2017)
Damir Hunley

You've already received so much flattery and recognition so I'l keep it short, similar to how you did. To me the best thing you did was getting so much information of great importance into the blog expressing it in short, concise, point-making sentences. Good Job.

Jaiyeola Omowamide (Student 2017)
Jaiyeola Omowamide

I'm so jealous that you thought of such an original topic. I wish I came up with that idea. I really like blog. It was well written and kept me interested throughout the entire post. I had no idea that there was such a shortage with African Americans, Hispanics, and Mixed raced donors. The only thing that I must point is that you have a few grammatical errors, and some of the text is smaller than other. Other then that, you're fine. You're off to a great start!

Jaiyeola Omowamide (Student 2017)
Jaiyeola Omowamide

I'm so jealous that you thought of such an original topic. I wish I came up with that idea. I really like blog. It was well written and kept me interested throughout the entire post. I had no idea that there was such a shortage with African Americans, Hispanics, and Mixed raced donors. The only thing that I must point is that you have a few grammatical errors, and some of the text is smaller than other. Other then that, you're fine. You're off to a great start!

Kai Burton (Student 2017)
Kai Burton

I love the topic that you picked. I agree that this issue has become a big problem in our country. In fact the first thing that I want to do when I turn eighteen is donate bone marrow. I do have one suggestion when you go home tonight read the article out loud to yourself to make sure it makes sense. But other than that you couldn't have picked a better topic. Great job!

Gabrielle Kreidie (Student 2017)
Gabrielle Kreidie

Niah,

Wow! What a informational and emotional blog post. First I want to say sorry for your sister, that must have been rough. On to that I never knew this shortage of donors was real. As a Caucasian women, I never knew that in many ways I am able to have more donors if I ever got cancer. This is a great blog post, next time I would work on the spacing though, it was a little confusing at points. Other then that, this was such a strong blog post and I am happy your bringing this issue into the eyes of the world.

Good work!

Gabrielle Kreidie