BENGALURU: At the age of just three months, Chirag was diagnosed with thalassaemia, a blood disorder wherein the patient has less haemoglobin and red blood cells than normal. He would often miss school or playing with friends due to blood transfusion visits every two or three weeks.
“The transfusions were always painful for him when he was a baby. We hoped our daughter’s blood stem cell type would be a match but it wasn’t. When the doctors told us about unrelated blood stem cell donation, we were apprehensive because of the minor possibility of his body rejecting the new cells or contracting an infection. Ten years after he was diagnosed, we found an 18-year-old donor from Germany through DKMS organisation,” said Vikash Chandra, Chirag’s father, who spoke to CE during the launch of a national blood stem cell registry.
Due to their apprehensions, the couple did not go ahead with the procedure for another three years. Fortunately, the donor did not change his mind when he was 21 and the doctors conducted the transplantation. “I barely need to visit the hospital now. I even play cricket with my friends,” said the now 12-year-old Chirag.
On World Blood Cancer Day (May 28), Bangalore Medical Service Trust, a not-for-profit organisation under Rotary Club, launched a national registry for blood stem cell donors, in association with DKMS, an international not-for-profit organisation that runs blood stem cell donor centres all over the world. The joint venture called DKMS BMST Foundation India will fight against blood cancer and disorders such as thalassaemia and aplastic anaemia.
“Unlike blood donation, not many are registered as stem cell donors. For patients such as those diagnosed with Leukaemia, a blood stem cell transplant is the only chance at life,” said Dr Latha Jagannathan, medical director and managing trustee of BMST.
Myths are one of the major obstacles in getting registrations, according to Dr Biju George, professor and head, Department of Haematology at CMC Vellore. He said, “People falsely believe that their energy levels will be depleted if they donate blood stem cells.” He adds that all that is required is a simple swab of the inside of one’s cheeks. “We will be conducting a public donor drive on June 15 at Orion Mall, Yeshwanthpur to get people to register as blood stem cell donors,” said Dr Elke Neujahr, global COO, DKMS. The drive will happen from noon to 8 pm.