Over the past weekend, on March 1st and 2nd, Unaerp IFMSA, from the Medicine program, partnered with the Ribeirão Preto Hemocenter to host the event "Hemotalk: Action and Awareness," a campaign for bone marrow donors registration. The initiative featured training sessions through lectures titled "What do I know about leukemia?" and "The importance of bone marrow transplantation in patient's quality of life," as well as donor registration.

Mariana Marçal Galvão, a sixth-year Medicine student and member of the Human Rights and Peace Committee (SCORP), explains that the lecture series aims primarily to raise awareness among the population about bone marrow donation. "It is very important for our personal growth and for the patient's own well-being because it is something that we often know is necessary, but there are not enough people available to donate," she says.

Hematologist Geraldo Santana da Cunha Junior, who delivered the lecture "What do I know about leukemia?," emphasizes the need to shed light on the topic and encourage people to become information multipliers regarding donation. "When we talk about bone marrow transplant, many people are afraid of the transplant or donation because they think that if they go to a blood center, they will collect the marrow at that moment. In fact, we donate blood, it's just a little sample, like a laboratory test. They register you there, perform all the typing tests, and if at any time your marrow is compatible with someone, then they recruit you to confirm whether or not you want to donate," he explains.

The goal of the lectures is to raise awareness among students to become bone marrow donors

Participation from other areas

In addition to the Medicine course, "Hemotalk: Action and Awareness" saw participation from other courses in the areas of Exact Sciences, Health, and Humanities at the University, such as Dentistry, Pharmacy, Chemical Engineering, and Administration. "The intention is to bring this responsibility to the students since families today are much smaller, and the greatest compatibility with marrow is among siblings, so often the chance of having compatibility is null. The aim is to increase this registration more and more, considering the mutual benefit, as the Bone Marrow Bank of Brazil can be consulted by the whole world," highlights Katiussia Pinho da Silva, director of the Human Rights and Peace Committee (SCORP) and a fifth-year Medicine student.

The initiative was done in partnership with the Ribeirão Preto Hemocenter

Finally, student Mariana Rodrigues Silva says that the event is important to demystify taboos regarding the subject that are still common in society, as well as to "reassure, show the relevance of registering, and even share with our families that it is important for everyone to be part of this great action. I think it is of great importance to promote to students, whether they are in the Medicine field or not, who can contribute to spreading this information and encouraging more people to be part of this action," says the student.

The event was promoted by the Human Rights and Peace Committee (SCORP) of IFMSA Brazil Unaerp.