Lack of blood, stem cell and bone marrow donation services are not a new issue for Queenslanders, but MP Robbie Katter says that residents in the north are particularly disadvantaged with the limited access, and it may be getting harder to donate.
Mr Katter said that while there were 407 donor centres in Queensland, a quarter of those were in the Brisbane region, and there were only three centres north of Rockhampton.
Mount Isa doesn't have a blood bank, and Townsville now only has a plasma-only centre.
"There certainly is shortages around and a lack of capacity to take those donors," he said.
"I've had countless people now coming out of the woodworks wanting to donate every year, but they just don't have the ability to do that anymore.
"It probably is a testament to the withdrawal of many health services throughout regional Queensland, it's just another one where they say, well, we can we can just put more effort in metropolitan areas, let's do it there, and even doing that there's still shortages.
"So with there's a lot of work can be done, and it's directly relates to life saving resources in blood supplies."
The Member for Traegar said that while a lack of services obviously affected those seeking transfusions and transplants, it was also letting down those who were willing to help others through donating.
"There's there's a real psychological aspect to that, that you feel like you want to help and give and you can't even do that," he said.
"That's something at the very least we should be able to provide to the people of regional Queensland."
Cheek swabs an accessible solution
Brendan and Roxanne Hodda, who along with their two young children, had to relocate to Brisbane when Mr Hodda was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia just prior to his 40th birthday.
After receiving a life-changing bone marrow transplant, the Hoddas were able to return to their home near Rockhampton and have spent much of the last seven years post-transplant advocating for regional and rural donation services.
"We are so grateful for all of those years and opportunities that it's given Brendon to continue to live our life and be with our children, with me and his family, so we're extremely lucky, but others aren't so lucky" she said.
Ms Hodda said that a suggestion mentioned in the National Strategic Action Plan for Blood Cancer, cheek swabs, was something that would immensely broaden access for those not in urban areas, but it had not yet been taken up.
Both the Hoddas and Mr Katter have been big supporters of foundation UR the Cure, which has been pushing for more people to join the stem cell donor registry through the use of cheek swabs.
Mr Katter's office was informed that existing funds for cheek swab recruitment were not accessible due to federally-imposed contractual constraints on the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry, and that the contract needed to be amended federally and then approved by each State.
"It means I can go to the P and F meeting, it means I can go to the footy club, and those people who live in rural and regional Australia where there's no donor centres, they can join the registry," she said.
"Robbie Katter can have them in his car, and every time he goes somewhere and talks to people, he can say hey, you're within the age group, take a cheek swab. That's how easy it could be.
"My friends in Winton, they wanted to join when Brendan got sick but they couldn't.
"So expanding and permanently instating cheek swabs is extremely important to our family, because I feel extremely lucky that I've still got my husband.
"But it just breaks my heart that a very minor government decision, where we can expand cheek swabs to the broader community, could make such an impact to the lives of so many people, but we're not doing it."
