Let there be Cure

Offering HLA typing far and wide We started on a journey traveling the length and breadth of the country in the month of October to reach out to families suffering from thalassemia who have never explored the option of cure. The prohibitive cost of HLA typing makes it out of reach for most families and thus the option of cure is also far from being explored. Sankalp India Foundation is committed to enabling cure for children suffering from thalassemia. To take this mission forward, we have been organising free HLA typing. In October, we travelled to Mumbai and Hyderabad to do more HLA typing there. Thanks to Think Foundation - Mumbai, Thalassemia and Sickel Cell Society - Hyderabad and Sh Ashok Khatuja Ji - Ullhasnagar- Thane, we were able to reach out to a large number of children and offer HLA typing to them. These are the first steps which then build pace and foster cure. We must mention the magical impact that we experienced at our centres 3 years back when some children found matches. The never-ending struggle to manage thalassemia takes a heavy toll on the confidence and optimism of the families. The fact that the misery never seems to end brings in hopelessness and despair. When we had few matches in our centre, for the first time, the parents of the little ones realised that in future it may just be possible that their child gets completely cured. As a direct consequence of the breath of fresh air that came into the centre in the form of hope of cure, we saw marked improvement in compliance to therapy. We hope that the little steps we take will help all the institutions where we get to serve experience positivity, hope and better care for children suffering from thalassemia.