Treatment now possible locally at low cost

Instead of going abroad people suffering from acute or chronic leukaemia and blood cancer-related diseases will now be able to get bone marrow transplant treatment locally at a low cost.
According to an estimate currently near about 300 patients go abroad every year and spend more than Tk2.0 billion on transplanting bone marrow.
A bone marrow transplantation unit has been set up at the Department of Haematology in Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) at the initiative of the government and in collaboration with the US-based Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH).
Department of Haematology chairman Professor MH Khan said, "The first case (patient) is recovering and five to six patients are in the pipeline."
He said, "At first we are providing 'Autologous' transplantation, that is stem cell is collected from the patient's own body and after some time we will start the 'Allogeneic' transplantation which means stem cell is collected from donors."
Prof. Khan, also head of the bone marrow transplantation unit, said in DMCH a patient can get the Autologous transplantation treatment at the cost of Tk0.5 million only. In India it is Tk1.5 million and in places other than India it is near about Tk5.0 million.
He said Bangladesh is providing world standard treatment as the personnel at the unit are trained, recognised and supported by the world's renowned hospitals and institutes.
Local people are being trained by skilled persons from the US and other countries, he said, adding currently several highly-skilled US doctors and nurses are working here in Dhaka with the Bangladeshi doctors.
The department chairman said, "Though initially we have started the Autologus, but soon we will start the Allogeneic transplantation."
Allogenic is tough as it is a matter of matching donor's and patient's stem cells, he said.
Mr. Khan said people will get treatment within their affordability. Earlier due to high cost many people were not getting this costly treatment and they had to die without treatment.
He said in Bangladesh it will be possible to get Allogeneic bone marrow transplantation treatment at the cost of Tk1.5 million only.
He said in India transplantation by collecting stem cells from donors costs Tk5.0 million per patient and in Singapore, Thailand, US and other countries it costs more than Tk10 million.
He said the government has shown the way and hopefully now the philanthropists and business people will come forward to donate or invest this new high-tech treatment.
A source in the unit said already the big private hospitals like Square, Apollo, LabAid, United, Combined Military Hospital (CMH) are contacting the unit to know about the technology and training facilities.