Affordable Bone Marrow Transplant Now Possible In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Bone Marrow Transplantation (BMT) is now possible at the Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital, Faculty of Medical Sciences and that too, at a much cheaper cost.

The hospital has already conducted three procedures since January last and two of the patients have already been discharged, Prof. Ashok Kumar Mahapatra, SOA’s Director (Health Programmes), said.

BMT is required to treat people suffering from diseases including leukemia and bone marrow. “The procedure, which costs between Rs. 10 to Rs. 15 lakh in most hospitals in big cities, can be done at one-fourth to one-third of that cost in SUM Hospital,” Prof. Mahapatra said adding, “we are doing it on no loss, no profit basis.”

SUM Hospital, which had conducted the first ever BMT in Odisha earlier, has haematologists, besides experts in transfusion medicine and critical care, making it a fully equipped centre for taking up BMT, Prof. Mahapatra said, adding at the moment IMS and SUM Hospital was the only centre in the state where the procedure was being done.

A multi-disciplinary team comprising doctors, nurses, dieticians and psychologists has been working together to provide compassionate and comprehensive care to haematology patients. Dr. Priyanka Samal heads the Haematology Department while Dr. Girijanandini Kanungo looks after the Transfusion Medicine Department.