TRAINEE medics in the North-East aim to link up with medical students around the world to help save the lives of leukaemia sufferers.

The students at Newcastle University's medical school belong to Marrow - an offshoot of the Anthony Nolan Trust. They want to go global in their efforts to recruit potential bone marrow donors.

Acting on behalf of Marrow, the students are planning to visit medical schools around the world to promote the charity's aims.

In March, they travelled to Croatia to meet representative's of that country's national organ donation group.

The students are also working with the International Federation of Medical Schools to spread the word.

Tom Skeath, a Newcastle medical student and member of the Marrow national committee, said: "Bone marrow transplants save lives, and the more people there are on the register, the more chance there is of survival for patients.".

Nadia Stock, a fifth year medical student at Newcastle, is an enthusiastic supporter of Marrow after a life-saving marrow transplant from a US donor helped her overcome a dangerous condition called idiopathic aplasti anaemia.

"Marrow gives students the chance to make a difference to other people's lives," she said.

Another Marrow supporter at the university, Mark Pearson, 23, from Consett, County Durham, said he was honoured when he was asked to donate his marrow to save the life of an unidentified patient.

"I'd recommend everybody who can to join the donor register," he said.

Marrow will be holding a recruitment drive at Newcastle University today, between 2pm and 5pm.