17. December 2020
Like in previous years, TÜV SÜD Division Mobility supports medical projects with Christmas cards. In total, 10,000 Euros were collected during this charity campaign. The donations were split between two organizations, Aktion Knochenmarkspende Bayern e.V. (AKB) and Stiftung Hochschulmedizin in Dresden, which both received 5,000 Euros. The Dresden based foundation promotes medical research, education and care at the University Hospital and Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus at TU Dresden. With the donation to the AKB, the TÜV SÜD employees and customers contribute to fighting leukemia – a fight that receded into the background due to the Corona pandemic. The donation to the Dresden organization was already presented in November. The official presentation of the donation cheque to the AKB was held at the TÜV SÜD headquarter in Munich on December 16.
Blood donation campaigns at companies, at public events, such as ones in cooperation with the fire department, were not possible this year due to the Corona crisis. Public promotions such as these are essential not only for blood donations, but also for gaining new bone marrow donors. Due to this, there was a lack of 20,000 new donors for the AKB. However, the active fighters against leukemia were able to reach almost 9,000 new registrations over an online portal for registration and during regular blood donations. “It is significantly harder to motivate people for a bone marrow donation if we can’t ask them directly,” says Dr. Hans Knabe, chairman of the foundation Aktion Knochenmarkspende Bayern e.V. He adds: “Shipping the test kits, collecting samples, transferring it to the laboratory: The sample handling through online registration takes a lot of time and money. Therefore, and for the typing tests, the donation by TÜV SÜD is an important contribution.”
Currently, the AKB is looking for other ways to bridge the gap that has evolved during the Corona pandemic. For example, they were able – as a result of a cooperation with the Bavarian Red Cross – to motivate blood donors to make a bone marrow donation. Another idea could be to ask people for a donation directly at Corona test sites, and to collect samples there as well. “Actually, we just need a cheek swab. We could take it alongside a Corona test. Fighting leukemia is still a crucial health care issue, and it will be one in the future,” Dr. Knabe emphasizes.
TÜV SÜD Division Mobility already handed over the donation funds of 5,000 Euros to the Stiftung Hochschulmedizin at the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus in November. The foundation supports innovative research projects and are active in the fields of medical and patient care. Furthermore, they support education and training of medical staff. The donated funds will be particularly used for the clinic and polyclinic for Visceral-, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery at the University Hospital Dresden. Prof. Jürgen Weitz, hospital director, says: “This donation is a specific support for our clinical work. The raised funds will help us to further develop our performance in therapy, care, research and education, and, in the long run, keep it constantly at a high level. For example, in our hospital we focus on scientific efforts for a continued development of navigated surgical interventions, which we want to drive significantly under the umbrella of the National Center for Tumor Disease (Nationales Centrum für Tumorerkrankungen, NCT/UCC) in Dresden. Therefore, TÜV SÜD has made an important contribution, and we are grateful for this.”
Patrick Fruth, CEO of TÜV SÜD Division Mobility: “All efforts to overcome the Corona pandemic are important, but we can’t afford to neglect other diseases. That is the reason why we support medical research in Dresden in general and, in particular, why we support the AKB in the fight against leukemia. We would like to thank those who made this year’s Christmas cards campaign a success.”
Caption: Cheque presentation at TÜV SÜD headquarter in Munich: Patrick Fruth (left), CEO TÜV SÜD Division Mobility, hands over the donation to Dr. Hans Knabe, chairman of Stiftung Aktion Knochenmarkspende e.V.
Further information and how to register as bone marrow donor can be found under www.akb.de.
More information about Stiftung Hochschulmedizin Dresden at www.stiftung-hochschulmedizin.de.
Press-contact: Vincenzo Lucá
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