A team of doctors at the Lahore’s Children Hospital (LCH) carried out a successful bone marrow transplant procedure on Tuesday.
The procedure was carried out on two young boys of age 2 and 4. LCH has now become the first public sector hospital in Pakistan to do this successfully.
Lack of Healthcare Facilities
When it comes to Pakistan, we lack in basic healthcare and education facilities in most parts of the country. Diseases easily curable across the world cannot be cured by the local hospitals in Pakistan. In case of serious complications, we don’t have any choice but to take our loved ones abroad, if we can afford it.
Given this general perception, even bone marrow transplant was considered incurable in Pakistan. Until now that is.
Two young boys had a successful bone marrow transplant procedure. The bone marrow transplant was made possible following a donation from their sisters.
Donors and Receivers in Stable Condition
In a press conference, Dean of the Children’s hospital, Prof. Masood Sadiq informed the media about the breakthrough. He said that the operation was successful and both the donors and receivers are in a stable condition.
According to Dr. Sadiq, Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif took a personal interest in the project. It was because of his constant support that made this possible despite all the hurdles.
Giving the details about the operation Dr. Tahir Shamsi said that the transplant was carried out after tissue matching of the siblings and 200-250 ml bone marrow was transferred. He said that the patients were kept in an infection-free environment for 6-8 weeks.
A Revolutionary Step
Dr. Tahir is the project Director of Bone Marrow Transplant project at the children’s hospital and the Pioneer of bone marrow transplant (BMT) in Pakistan. He called the introduction of the BMT facility in public sector hospitals a revolutionary step.
A young girl ‘Amal’ suffered from the disease 14 years ago and her mother Ammara Farooq Malik started the effort to bring BMT facility in Pakistan. She launched a campaign by the name of “Selpaa Foundation” for the cause.
That campaign has come a long way since then, paving the way for bone marrow implants in Pakistan.
