First bone marrow transplant at Children’s Hospital

LAHORE :First two bone marrow transplantation procedures in Children's Hospital successfully carried out. Children's Hospital Lahore is the first public sector hospital across the country where bone marrow transplantation started.

Children's Hospital Dean Prof Masood Sadiq and Medical Director Prof Ahsan Waheed Rathore stated this after successful completion of bone marrow transplantation of two children i.e. Bilal two-year and Aashir four-year age, in a press conference here at Children’s Hospital Tuesday. The sisters of both the children have donated their bone marrow for their younger brothers.

Prof Ahsan Waheed Rathore said it had become possible only due to the personal interest and attention paid by Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif with a view to providing best healthcare facilities to the people of Punjab. Prof Rathore informed that both the donors and recipients are stable and their health is improving. He informed that the chief minister has appointed Project Director Dr Tahir Shamsi who is the pioneer of bone marrow in Pakistan and the Director of National Institute of Blood Diseases, Karachi (NIBD). He said the doctors of Children's Hospital have written a new history of medical in Pakistan by conducting successful bone marrow transplantation in public sector hospital. Dr Tahir Shamsi, responding to a question informed that the procedure carried out after tissue matching of siblings and after giving anesthesia 200-250ml bone marrow obtained from the bones of the donors and infused in the recipient patient and the patient kept in infection-free atmosphere for seven to eight weeks. 

He informed that after infusion bone marrow starts producing fresh blood. Dr Shamsi informed that the successful rate of this treatment is about 70 percent all over the world. He informed that so far 2,000 bone marrow transplants have been carried out in Pakistan and all were in the private sector as before Children's Hospital Lahore there was not a single such facility available in Pakistan in public sector. Prof Ahsan Waheed Rathore said since the bone marrow transplant facility is available in Children's Hospital; therefore, many lives of children could be saved. Prof Masood Sadiq informed the media that Children's Hospital has become a centre of excellence and we are starting training programme in bone marrow transplant for the doctors, nurses and paramedical staff with a plan to introduce this facility in other hospitals of Punjab such as Nishtar Hospital, Multan and Bahawalpur. Prof Masood Sadiq and Prof Ahsan Waheed Rathore congratulated the whole team of doctors, nurses and paramedics, who are specially trained for this procedure, on their success.

The team leader Dr Mewish Faizan informed that this way of treatment is helpful for the treatment of thalassaemia, A-plastic anemia and cancer and those patients whose immunity is weak can also be treated by bone marrow transplantation. She expressed determination that her whole team would continue their dedicated efforts for conducting these procedures at Children's Hospital.

The other members of medical team included Dr Saima Farhan, Dr Nasir Bukhari, Dr Arifa, Dr Mansoor Mazari, Dr Rukhsana and the nursing staff. On this occasion, Mukhtar Ahmed, father of Aashir, who has got bone marrow transplant, lauded the Punjab government’s efforts and especially thanked the chief minister and the doctors of Children's Hospital for providing such a costly treatment facility to his son free-of-cost.