Union Minister launches second phase of “Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojna”

News: Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare launched the second phase of “Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojna” for the underprivileged Thalassemic patients.

Facts:

• Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojna: It was launched in 2017 with the aim to provide a one-time cure opportunity for Haemoglobinopathies like Thalassaemia and Sickle Cell Disease for patients who have a matched family donor.
• Funded by: The scheme is a Coal India CSR funded Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation(HSCT) program.
• Beneficiary: The initiative aims to provide financial assistance to a total of 200 patients by providing a package cost not exceeding Rs. 10 lakhs per HSCT.

Additional Facts:

• Thalassemia: It is a chronic and genetic blood disorder due to which a patient’s body cannot make enough hemoglobin leading to anemia.This disease is passed from parents to children through genes and people suffering from it require blood transfusions to survive.
• Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation(HSCT): It is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood.
  • It may be autologous (the patient’s own stem cells are used), allogeneic (the stem cells come from a donor) or syngeneic (from an identical twin).
  • It is most often performed for patients with certain cancers of the blood, thalassemia or bone marrow such as multiple myeloma or leukemia.