BHUBANESWAR: After the liver transplant fiasco and a struggling kidney transplant unit, the highly successful bone marrow transplant (BMT) unit at SCB medical college and hospital (SCBMCH) in Cuttack seems to have been pushed to its death bed.
The state-of-the-art facility, which had the distinction of being the first government-run centre in the country to offer free bone marrow transplants, is gasping for survival for the last few months, thanks to the political and bureaucratic apathy.
The last transplant performed at the unit, in February 2025, was a milestone in itself as it was the first paediatric allogeneic transplant in the state. Since then, the lights have dimmed, and the life-saving care has come to a grinding halt.
People privy to the development attributed the sudden downfall of the unit to severe crunch of transplant specialists and the failure of the state government to retain experts.
The unit is virtually defunct due to non-renewal of the contract of Prof RK Jena, former head of the department, who was continuing as the chief BMT physician post-retirement.
The government had in April last year extended him a four-year contract with annual renewal. With the renewal not forthcoming, Prof Jena has stopped attending duty, which has pushed the unit to a complete standstill as there are no other qualified BMT specialists in the department.
While around 35 patients, all having cleared their pre-transplant evaluations, are now waiting in limbo, 160 others are struggling without adequate follow-up care post-transplant.
"Plagued with inadequate faculty and lack of political will, the unit is now staring at an uncertain future as Prof Jena’s exit has dealt a body blow. It is shocking that the government let go of someone who was central to the functioning of such a vital facility,” sources said.
Started in April 2014 with autologous transplants, the unit has so far successfully conducted 180 transplants with a high survival rate.
Sources said, the post of professor and assistant professors in the clinical haematology department remain vacant. The study of six DrNB (super speciality) students has also been stalled due to a lack of specialist faculty, which is a worrying sign for the future of haematology training in the state.
The SCB BMT unit had earned national acclaim for conducting complex procedures free of cost. In 2021, the centre began performing allogeneic transplants. Patients from across the country, including those referred from reputed institutions like Vellore, AIIMS, and Tata Memorial, have been treated here free of cost. The procedure costs over `30 lakh in private facilities.
But the government’s apathy may leave the facility to rot and push thousands patients to the brink. Health minister Mukesh Mahaling did not respond to calls and messages from TNIE.