PODCAST | Roping in corporate SA to help beat blood cancer
Business Day Spotlight speaks to Palesa Mokomele, head of community engagement and communications at DKMS Africa
21 January 2025 - 11:38
byMudiwa Gavaza
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Palesa Mokomele, head of community engagement and communications at DKMS Africa. Picture: SUPPLIED
The place of corporate SA in helping to treat cancers of the blood is the focus of this edition of Business Day Spotlight.
Host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Palesa Mokomele, head of community engagement and communications at DKMS Africa. DKMS is an international nonprofit organisation working to fight cancers of the blood.
The organisation has highlighted that in SA, only 6% of corporate social investment (CSI) budgets are allocated to health — far below the 25% seen in the US.
More concerning, Mokomele explains, is that the number of SA businesses supporting health initiatives is decreasing each year.
Join the discussion:
If this trend continues a crisis could be looming.
According to Mokomele, about 120 South Africans a day register as potential stem cell donors, providing a lifeline for the more than 19,000 patients now living with blood cancers and disorders who require a transplant for survival.
While this process is free for individuals, each registration costs about R2,500 for non-profits working to grow and diversify the local registry. With CSI expenditure increasing by 7.5% in 2024, SA businesses are increasingly stepping up to create meaningful change and save lives.
“Nobody with blood cancer or a blood disorder should die because they are unable to find a matching stem cell donor,” Mokomele says. “We call for their increased support in continuing our efforts to register as many potential donors as possible, ensuring that one day a match can be found for everyone in need.”
Through this discussion, Mokomele outlines the history of DKMS, the fight against blood cancer, the place of corporates in helping to treat rare diseases, trends in CSI spending and progress made in SA.
Business Day Spotlight is a MultimediaLIVE Production.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
BUSINESS DAY SPOTLIGHT
PODCAST | Roping in corporate SA to help beat blood cancer
Business Day Spotlight speaks to Palesa Mokomele, head of community engagement and communications at DKMS Africa
The place of corporate SA in helping to treat cancers of the blood is the focus of this edition of Business Day Spotlight.
Host Mudiwa Gavaza is joined by Palesa Mokomele, head of community engagement and communications at DKMS Africa. DKMS is an international nonprofit organisation working to fight cancers of the blood.
The organisation has highlighted that in SA, only 6% of corporate social investment (CSI) budgets are allocated to health — far below the 25% seen in the US.
More concerning, Mokomele explains, is that the number of SA businesses supporting health initiatives is decreasing each year.
Join the discussion:
If this trend continues a crisis could be looming.
According to Mokomele, about 120 South Africans a day register as potential stem cell donors, providing a lifeline for the more than 19,000 patients now living with blood cancers and disorders who require a transplant for survival.
While this process is free for individuals, each registration costs about R2,500 for non-profits working to grow and diversify the local registry. With CSI expenditure increasing by 7.5% in 2024, SA businesses are increasingly stepping up to create meaningful change and save lives.
“Nobody with blood cancer or a blood disorder should die because they are unable to find a matching stem cell donor,” Mokomele says. “We call for their increased support in continuing our efforts to register as many potential donors as possible, ensuring that one day a match can be found for everyone in need.”
Through this discussion, Mokomele outlines the history of DKMS, the fight against blood cancer, the place of corporates in helping to treat rare diseases, trends in CSI spending and progress made in SA.
Business Day Spotlight is a MultimediaLIVE Production.
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