Bone marrow transplant units to be set up at RML, Safdarjung, Lady Hardinge Medical College

Delhi: Marking a significant development, three centre-run government hospitals in Delhi, namely Safdarjung Hospital, Dr Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital and Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC), would soon come up with bone marrow transplants at their oncology units.

The work on the facilities is currently ongoing, with a plan to make the services functional by April-May. Officials said they are working on increasing the number of beds and training doctors and nurses. 

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The bone marrow transplant facilities are currently being provided at AIIMS and other private hospitals in Delhi, and there are a long list of patients who are in a malignant state, said Dr B L Sherwal, medical superintendent at Safdarjung Hospital. Private hospitals charge around Rs 15 lakh to Rs 40 lakh for a bone marrow transplant. 

Speaking to the Indian Express, he said, "We are planning to start the service in the next 10-15 days. We have the infrastructure and manpower in both haematology and oncology units." He added, "We have patients who are on treatment in the Safdarjung cancer unit and once we start giving them bone marrow treatment as well, it will be a boon for the patients." 

The officials at Lady Hardinge hospital are working on setting up the transplant facilities at their oncology units with an aim to make them functional by the end of April. A hospital official said, "Most likely, we will start the service by the end of April." 

Stating that the services would begin by April-May in RML, an official said, "Things are yet to materialize, but most likely the service will be started between April-May." 

A bone marrow transplant or a stem cell transplant, used to treat certain types of cancer, replaces bone marrow with healthy cells. The replacement cells are obtained from a patient’s body or a donor. It treats certain types of cancer, such as leukemia, myeloma and lymphoma, and other blood and immune system diseases that affect the bone marrow. 

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