Help an Indian-American fight leukemia

An Indian-American patient diagnosed with a life-threatening form of leukemia is struggling to find a donor of South Asian origin.

28-year-old Vinay Chakravarthy, who is ailing from Acute Myelogenous Leukemia, is finding it tough to get a donor because only about 1.5 per cent people of South Asian origin in the United States has registered themselves with the National Marrow Donor Programme.

Chakravarthy's friends have come together and are trying to get more South Asians to register themselves with the NMDP. They have also put up a website with all the details (http://www.helpvinay.org) to help potential donors register.

The website says listing in the registry is a simple, non-intrusive procedure that does not take much time.

It also says that while a Caucasian has a one-in-fifteen chance of finding a match, South Asians have just a one-in-20,000 to one-in-1,00,000 chances of finding a match.

Vinay, a native of Fremont, California, is a resident in orthopaedics in the Boston Medical Center.

Since 'Team Vinay' -- comprising friends and well-wishers -- came together, they have conducted more than 120 marrow drives in about 10 states. They are planning 70 more such drives in the next two weeks.

Visit http://www.helpvinay.org for more information.