7 November, Bangalore: Cure2Children, Italy and Sankalp India Foundation have come together to provide hope for the children suffering from thalassemia by offering HLA typing for the eligible families 'free of charge'. The HLA typing will enable the identification of the families who can opt for a permanent cure from thalassemia. 7th November, 2012 is going to be very special at the Thalassemia Day Care Centre. This is the day when 15 families who have one child suffering from thalassemia are being offered free HLA typing. The selection criteria includes:
- the patient must be eligible to undergo BMT and should belong to what is described as the low risk group
- the patient should have a healthy sibling who is a potential donor of bone marrow
- after understanding the risks and implications, the family must be willing to consider BMT as an option
HLA typing costs around Rs 20,000/- per family as of date in Bangalore. Most families coming to the day care centre find it hard to organise the funds required for HLA typing. With this test being offered free of cost, it will be possible to identify the families who have a real chance of taking up BMT as an option for cure. If more children are found to satisfy the eligibility criteria, more of them will be offered this option. Thank you Cure2Children, Italy for offering HLA typing to the children at our Day Care Centre.
Some Facts
- The only permanently cure for Thalassemia is BMT
- BMT has been showing good results in case of children who belong to the low risk category and who receive bone marrow from a sibling or a fully matched donor
- chances of finding a completely matched donor who is not a sibling (at least for Indians) are very low as of date.
- With recent advances BMT is being offered at a cost as low as $10,000 making it accessible and viable option for many more patients
- The 'HOPE' for a permanent cure ensures better compliance at an early stage of the disease. With the family getting used to proper management, even without BMT, the child has a better future.
Sankalp India Foundation is extremely grateful to Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, Applied Materials for giving wings to our Project and Cure2Children for constantly encouraging and helping us deliver better care, treatment and hope to each of the 185 children who are currently attending the day care centre at IGICH.