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Free bone marrow transplant in India is a ray of hope for people suffering from life-threatening haematological or bone marrow illnesses. Despite the problems they have to face, several hospitals provide critical services to low-income patients who cannot pay the exorbitant expenses of BMT.
These hospitals change lives and give fresh beginnings by combining knowledge, infrastructure, and a compassionate approach. The blog discusses several treatment options, guidelines and age eligibility criteria for free bone marrow transplants in India.
Bone marrow transplants play a crucial role in making most of the components in blood. These components are essential not just to survive but also to lead a happy and healthy life. The importance of bone marrow is:
Treating Blood Disorders: A bone marrow transplant may be necessary to treat various blood disorders, such as leukaemia, lymphoma, and myeloma.
These conditions affect the production and function of blood cells, and a transplant can help replace abnormal or damaged cells with healthy ones.
Replacing Damaged Bone Marrow: When the bone marrow is damaged or destroyed by chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or certain diseases, a transplant is the solution.
It allows for the infusion of healthy bone marrow stem cells that can replenish the bone marrow and restore its ability to produce healthy blood cells.
Genetic and Immune System Disorders: Some genetic and immune system disorders, such as severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) and aplastic anaemia, can be treated with a bone marrow transplant.
The transplant aims to correct genetic abnormalities or rebuild a functional immune system by introducing healthy donor cells.
Preventing Disease Relapse: In certain cases of cancer, a bone marrow transplant may be recommended to reduce the risk of disease relapse.
By replacing the patient's bone marrow with healthy cells, the transplant aims to eliminate any remaining cancer cells and improve long-term remission rates.
Even though many hospitals in the country offer bone marrow transplants, very few hospitals offer free bone marrow transplant services. Two such hospitals are :
The Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) in Chennai: A state-owned hospital run by the government of Tamil Nadu, the Rajiv Gandhi Hospital in Chennai is a fully functional and well-equipped hospital that provides world-class services to patients.
State-run SCB Medical College and Hospital (SCBMCH) in Cuttack: One of the largest and oldest hospitals in the country, the hospital provides high-class facilities to the patients.
The hospital provides speciality and super speciality services and caters to the patients' many pre and post-operative requirements under one roof.
Bone marrow transplant is a very expensive treatment procedure and can not be affordable for poor patients.
Government schemes can extend support for free bone marrow transplants in India. Here are some organisations and hospitals you can turn to:
Central Government Health Schemes: One of these schemes covers the expenses of bone marrow transplants for underprivileged children below 18 years of age. The following hospitals are empanelled under this scheme:
Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai
All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi
Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore and Ludhiana
Tata Medical Centre in Kolkata
Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh
Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute in New Delhi
Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGI) in Lucknow
Narayana Hrudayalaya in Bangalore
Ayushman Bharat Yojana: Ayushman Bharat Scheme: Under the Ayushman Bharat scheme, bone marrow transplant (BMT) is covered for eligible beneficiaries.
This scheme aims to provide economically vulnerable individuals with financial protection and healthcare benefits.
Suppose a person requires a bone marrow transplant due to a covered condition. In that case, they may be eligible for a free transplant in the empanelled hospitals.
Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) is an expensive medical technique that replaces damaged or diseased bone marrow with healthy blood-forming stem cells.
Patients who require Bone Marrow Transplants but cannot afford even a fraction of the cost of therapy can benefit from the initiative of any institution that gives free bone marrow transplants in India.
Children below the age of 12 years with a yearly income of INR 5 lakhs are eligible for free bone marrow transplants.
Patients suffering from severe aplastic anaemia under the age of 18 years and with an annual income of INR 8 lakhs are also eligible for free bone marrow transplants.
If you require a bone marrow transplant, it is usually due to severe conditions such as acute lymphocytic leukaemia, AML, amyloidosis, and aplastic anaemia.
The treatment team will assess your candidacy for a bone marrow transplant by reviewing your medical history, conducting physical examinations, blood tests, imaging tests, and evaluating organ functions.
They may also perform a bone marrow biopsy and additional tests to ensure overall health.
With the availability of many promising and highly efficient bone marrow transplant centres in the country, choosing a suitable one can become challenging.
However, before a person proceeds with the transplantation, they must ensure that their hospital facilities meet the following criteria. This includes :
Certified Hospital: Bone marrow transplant is a complex procedure.
Therefore, the hospital you finalise and all essential certifications must be approved.
Experience and Expertise: Always ensure that the medical team and healthcare providers for bone marrow transplantation have many years of experience and expertise in performing the procedures.
Financial Aid: The bone marrow transplant is an expensive procedure.
One must ensure that the health facility they choose covers health insurance and government schemes.
Provision of Amenities and Facilities: Choosing a hospital with a promising and experienced team of experts from diverse fields, well-equipped labs, testing centres, and complete care and support facilities is also a must.
Evaluations for bone marrow transplant is a crucial step before surgery as it deals with the complete analysis of the patient.
This analysis includes a general checkup on their overall health and their eligibility for treatment.
Patient Examination: The healthcare providers will begin by obtaining all the essential information from the patient regarding their current health condition, allergies, infections, medications, etc.
Physical Examination: Before moving ahead, the patients will be asked to get checked for their vitals and examination of the other essential organs of the body.
Human Leukocyte Antigen: Among the many other tests, the patients will also be suggested a human leukocyte antigen test for determining the immune system cell makeup.
Diagnostic Tests: A series of tests will be recommended to clarify the problem's stage and status. These include a blood test, genetic test, PET scan, bone marrow biopsy, etc.
Donor Compatibility: Once all these assessments have been completed and the eligibility criteria have been analysed, the patient will be matched for donor compatibility.
Bone marrow transplants are not just a life-saving treatment but also an expensive one. India's bone marrow transplant centres have been developed to provide outstanding health facilities and financially help them.
Some of the most significant advantages of free bone marrow transplant hospitals in India are:
Financial Aid: One of the biggest advantages these hospitals offer is that they provide patients with major financial aid.
There are also hospitals in India where financially unstable people can get free treatment.
Support and Care Facilities: Another significant advantage of these hospitals is that they provide comprehensive and unmatched care and support services to patients and their families.
Checking Donor Availability: In most cases, looking for a suitable bone marrow transplant donor can become difficult.
These hospitals connect the right patients with suitable donors.
Free bone marrow transplant hospitals in India offer patients critical medical care and support. It ensures that cost doesn't hinder access to life-saving treatment. These hospitals provide hope and support to individuals needing this specialised procedure.
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The State Government has decided to provide a free bone marrow transplant in India to all patients who cannot afford the procedure.
The free bone marrow transplant hospitals in India are :
The Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute
SCB Medical College and Hospital
A State-run hospital in Odisha performed its 100th bone marrow transplant (BMT) free of charge last year, marking a significant milestone in India's public health system.
This hospital aims to provide poor patients with free bone marrow transplants in India.
The eligibility requirements for a free bone marrow transplant in India must be clarified. However, the available specifications include the following:
Patients should be below the poverty line.
The patient should be registered under the Ayushman Bharat card.
Yes, some charitable organisations and foundations in India sponsor free bone marrow transplants.
When it comes to free bone marrow transplants, Tata memorial hospital always tries to provide treatment at a meagre treatment cost or free of charge if patients are economically backward.
State-sponsored hospitals, like Rajeev Gandhi Hospital in Chennai, also provide free bone marrow transplants under the chief minister's health scheme.
The state-run SCB Medical College and Hospital (SCBMCH) in Cuttack fully supports free bone marrow transplants.
It depends on whether the transplant is autologous or allogenic.
For a free bone marrow transplant in India, you should have an Ayushman Bharat card, and your name should be Below Poverty Line.
You can apply through this government scheme at government hospitals.
Providing free bone marrow transplants to all patients is still a big challenge. Regarding AIIMS, Delhi itself includes bone marrow transplants to only 15 patients in one month.
So average waiting time can be more than a month or a year.
Yes, specific medical conditions prioritise individuals for free bone marrow transplants in India. These include patients suffering from :
Bone marrow diseases such as aplastic anaemia.
Genetic disorders
Immune deficiencies
Ayushman Bharat Scheme is the biggest health flagship scheme of the government. There are more than a thousand disease treatments covered under this scheme.
Those with Ayushman Bharat cards can get a 5 lakh annual therapy for free.
There are restrictions and limitations, like only available treatment should be done and must avoid experiments and new clinical trials treatments. Age is another limiting factor for hospitals as they can be treated only between 18 to 60 or 65.
The current guidelines only allow for the homologous use of non-modified HSCs.
Free Bone marrow transplant in India is still a big challenge. But, under the supervision of top bone marrow doctors in India, an individual can obtain the most affordable bone marrow transplants in India.
When compared with other countries, the waiting duration for donors in India is also far better.
Many hospitals providing free bone marrow transplants in India are limited to very few.
So they have specified age limits between 18 to 65 in most of the cases, and besides the age factor, this free treatment is available only to poor patients who can't afford the treatment costs.
Yes, the following are the additional support services or resources provided to patients receiving free transplants in India:
Nutrition is very important after the bone marrow transplant procedure.
Patients undergoing bone marrow transplantation are provided healthy and nutritious food to avoid hunger and problems such as vomiting and diarrhoea.
Many hospitals bear the full cost of the procedure, which is the most considerable support for poor patients who can't afford treatment costing more than ten lakhs to 15 lakhs.
Many tests and scans are an essential part of the bone marrow transplant.
Patients are provided with free pre and post-operative tests and follow-ups.
A bone marrow transplant is an expensive treatment. You can pay for this treatment with various financing options without depleting your savings.
Besides personal savings, loans, crowdfunding, and government assistance are some of the major funding options for bone marrow transplants in India.
BMT is a costly way of therapy that can cost up to Rs. 10 to 12 lakhs at private institutions.
However, the transplant at SCB costs roughly 80,000 because it is a state-sponsored facility that provides free bone marrow transplants in India.
Significant steps involved in the application and approval process for free bone marrow transplants in India vary with Healthcare facilities. These include :
A complete health and physical evaluation.
Getting the many tests and scans done.
Discussing the financial aspects with the healthcare providers.
Finding suitable donors.
Discussing the support and care services and facilities.
While the number of bone marrow or stem cell transplants has increased significantly, the following are the guidelines or recommendations for individuals seeking free bone marrow transplants in India:
Pre-transplant evaluation and management of a common complication
Graft versus host disease (GVHD) is critical.
Matching the eligibility criteria
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Last Updated on: 15 December 2023
HexaHealth Care Team brings you medical content covering many important conditions, procedures falling under different medical specialities. The content published is thoroughly reviewed by our panel of qualified doctors for its accuracy and relevance.
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