India’s largest bone marrow transplant centre for cancer patients in Jaipur soon

JAIPUR: Jaipur will soon have the country’s largest bone marrow transplant centre. The 50-bed centre is being under development at State Cancer Institute. The project will likely be operational by the end of 2023. 

This will be a major relief to blood cancer patients as there is a lack of infrastructure for bone marrow transplants in the state. Currently, there is a 2-bed centre at SMS Hospital in Jaipur; however, due to the lack of manpower and resources, the facilities are inadequate and there is a huge waiting list. Patients usually have to wait for over a year for a transplant. Read Also: Rajasthan State Cancer Institute to have a blood bank soon

Most patients don’t get the opportunity to benefit from transplants and have to rely on medicines. But this will change with the development of the centre. “Bone marrow transplant is more effective for blood cancer patients than medication. So hopefully, more patients will be able to benefit after the launch of the centre,” said a State Cancer Institute official. 

“It’s important to have the transplant therapy at an early stage of cancer, but since there is a lack of facilities currently in Jaipur, the patients have to either rely on private hospitals or wait for their turn which is very long currently,” said the official. 

He added that the transplant can be performed free of cost in Rajasthan under the Chief Minister Chiranjeevi scheme. The cost of a bone marrow transplant at private hospitals can go up to Rs 25 lakh which most patients can’t afford. 

The most important requirement for a bone marrow transplant is that the bone marrow of the patient should match the bone marrow of the donor. It is also important to have a match of human leukocyte antigen. The probability of HLA similarity is 25% in siblings and 1% to 3% in parents.