Marking a major milestone in India’s public health system, a State-run hospital in Odisha on Wednesday performed its 100th bone marrow transplant (BMT) free of cost.
The BMT, an expensive a medical procedure, infuses healthy blood-forming stem cells to replace damaged or diseased bone marrow.
Eight years ago, the Naveen Patnaik government established a BMT Unit at the State-run SCB Medical College and Hospital (SCBMCH) in Cuttack and fully supported the transplants, which at that time were costing ₹15-40 lakh each, depending on whether the procedure was autologous or allogenic. Moreover, the waiting period was at least one year outside Odisha.