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Rachna Khaira
Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, August 20
Despite a huge upsurge of patients suffering from blood-related disorders, stem cell donation is yet to gain momentum in the country.
While over 40 hospitals, including some government centres, are at present conducting stem cell transplantation in the country, none of them is registered with the World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) to facilitate the transfer of hematopoietic cells for transplantation purposes across international borders.
As per Simmi Singh, director of Arjan Vir Foundation, an NGO, every year over 50,000 people die due to diseases pertaining to blood-related disorders.
“While the nation has some of the top medical institutes conducting the stem cell transplantation, they do not have adequate stem cell donors who can donate their cells for such patients. They only conduct transplantation on those patients whose stem cells find a match with their siblings,” said Simmi.
She added that none of the hospitals in the country got registered with the WMDA which had a donor list of millions of stem cell donors across borders and, hence, could save many lives.
“While the probability of matching a stem cell with a sibling is one in four donors, it is a million otherwise and also the cost of stem cell testing in India is over four times than it is in the US,” said Jasleen, consultant for the NGO.
Even the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is not registered with the WMDA and is conducting stem cell transplantation among siblings.
Sources at AIIMS had even claimed that due to lack of proper infrastructure, the institute was also getting the majority of the sample testing done from abroad, forcing patients to pay up to Rs 35,000 which is almost four times the cost of bone marrow sample testing in the country.
How is stem cell donation done in the country?
According to Simmi Singh, WMDA facilitates the establishment of a registry (organisation) of volunteer bone marrow donors.
“At present, there are only three such registries working in the country. While one at Mumbai is not working actively, the other two, including Arjan Vir Foundation, is working without any government support in Chennai and Punjab,” she said.
While the government spending crores over the ‘Tandarust Punjab’ mission in the state, it is yet to extend support to the only registry working in the state.
“The cost of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) test to match patients and donors for bone marrow or cord blood transplants comes out to be between Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000. But we are at present conducting it at our own expense. Though we are collecting funds from our relatives and friends, a support from the government is always welcome,” said Jasleen.
She further added that the foundation has taken an initiative to assist patients of blood disorders by providing them guidance by experts in self-care and best treatments for their diseases.
“We are an international stem cell donor registry founded in the loving memory of Arjan Vir Singh whom we lost in 2012 to blood cancer mainly due to delay in finding a fully matched stem cell donor at the right time for his treatment. We register potential stem cell donors by conducting an HLA Typing test, which is not done in the country,” said Simmi.
Once the donor becomes a full match to a patient, he or she is contacted to come forward for the actual stem cell donation process, which is similar to platelet donation. It is imperative to understand that the stem cells are collected from the peripheral blood and no intrusive surgery or procedure is required.
The foundation has urged people, especially youth, to come forward for the stem cell donation to save precious lives.
In a special screening camp organised on Sunday in the city by the foundation, over a hundred stem cell donors have came forward to volunteer themselves for the donation.
Donation process
Apheresis: Peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) donation is one of the two methods of collecting stem cells from donor. The PBSC donation is a nonsurgical procedure, called apheresis.
Preparation: Before donation, up to 5 days, an injection to the donor is given to multiply stem cells and bring them into blood stream for easier extraction. Donation: Similar to platelet donation process, stem cells are extracted. Blood from donor is removed through a needle in one arm and passed through a machine which extracts stem cells from the blood and; the remaining blood is returned to the donor through a needle in the other.
Timing: 90 per cent of all PBSC donations are completed in one apherisis session, within 4-6 hours. The remaining 10 per cent of the donations are completed in two apherisis sessions, which may take up to Eight hours.
Side-effects: Only 25 per cent donors show side-effects such as temporary headache or body ache.
Hospitals not registered with WMDA
While over 40 hospitals, including some government centres, are at present conducting stem cell transplantation in the country, none of them is registered with the World Marrow Donor Association (WMDA) to facilitate the transfer of hematopoietic cells for transplantation purposes across international borders.
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