Greater Noida: Child PGI expands bone marrow transplant services for kids

Officials said that the pace of transplants has increased over the past year owing to better infrastructure and increase in staff

NOIDA:After operating with limited capacity for years, the paediatric bone marrow transplant (BMT) programme at the government-run Post Graduate Institute of Child Health (PGICH), Noida, has been expanded its services, following the commissioning of an upgraded transplant unit in June 2024, officials said on Wednesday.

PGICH officials said the upgraded unit has enabled the hospital to take up more cases requiring long-term and intensive post-transplant care (HT Photo)

Since the programme’s launch in 2020, the institute has carried out 94 paediatric BMTs, with most cases of children suffering from thalassemia, aplastic anaemia, leukaemia and primary immunodeficiency disorder.

Officials said that the pace of transplants has increased over the past year owing to better infrastructure and increase in staff.

Prof Lawrence Faulkner, an international paediatric BMT specialist with the Cure2Children Foundation, Italy, interacted with clinical teams and reviewed treatment protocols, outcomes and follow-up care under the programme this week, said hospital officials.

Dr Nita Radhakrishnan, additional professor and head, Paediatric Hematology-Oncology at PGICH (Noida), said, “Access to paediatric bone marrow transplantation remains limited in the public health system, mostly in private hospitals in metro cities. The availability of the service in a government hospital is particularly relevant for economically weaker families, for whom the treatment cost is often prohibitive”.

PGICH officials said the upgraded unit has enabled the hospital to take up more cases requiring long-term and intensive post-transplant care. “BMT in children is not a one-time procedure. Survival depends heavily on follow-up, infection control and supportive services”, Dr Radhakrishnan said.

Children undergoing such transplants typically require prolonged monitoring and multidisciplinary support. PGICH Noida provides services including, transfusion services, laboratory monitoring, nutritional care, physiotherapy and psychosocial counselling. The unit currently caters to patients from Uttar Pradesh and neighbouring states, officials said.

Health experts said that while transplant volume at public hospitals remains limited, the gradual expansion of such programmes is critical in reducing delays and dependence on private facilities for the curative treatment.