Should families with a thalassemia child collect cord blood?
By Dr. Lawrence Faulkner. Director Sankalp-People Tree Hospitals Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, Bangalore, India and Medical Coordinator Cure2Children Foundation Florence, Italy.
The short answer is no. Why than many families with a child with thalassemia collect and store cord blood?
Thalassemia did not stop Pavan from getting 98.08% marks in board exams
Fifteen-year-old Pavan Kumar Singh is a known thalassemic child. When he was diagnosed at the age of 3 months, his family did not have an idea what thalassemia was. He was taken to every possible hospital in Bangalore to find out if there was a cure for his condition.
News and Updates from November 2015
Thalassemia management November was a challenging month at Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health. Thanks to the 10 government holidays, we had tough time accommodating all the children for transfusions. Looking at the workload at the institute together with the institute we are in the process of getting a doctor exclusively for the thalassemia unit.
The HLA Revolution : Getting together to make a difference
Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Ullhasnagar, Rajahmundry, Faridabad and Dehradun - in last few months Sankalp India Foundation together with Cure2Children has offered free HLA typing to children suffering from thalassemia who have a healthy sibling. More than 250 families have been offered HLA typing. A fourth of these are likely to find a perfectly matched sibling.
Experience at a blood donation camp
Recently got an opportunity to participate in a blood donation camp in a different state. I was very curious to see how the blood donation camp is organised because there are always those little things which one could learn. The camp was being organised at a public place and it was half way through by the time we reached.
Thalassemia - The Road Ahead
While the clamour to declare thalassemia as a disability grows around the country, year 2015 has brought realisation and reaffirmation to the long held perspective that we have at Sankalp India Foundation for thalassemia.
As part of the counselling and motivational exercise, also as part of the speeches and the writings in the books, often the thalassemia families are told that their child should
News and Updates from October 2015
Despite the festive season in October, many organisations came forth to plan blood donation drives. Sankalp organised 17 drives in October leading to a collection of more than 1350 units of blood. On a complications front, 3.4% of donors faced one sort of complication or the other. However, follow up was done with most of them and there is no reason for concern.
Health Ministry permits transfer of blood between Blood Banks
The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has identified two major initiatives towards better utilisation of blood and blood components, as part of its commitment to ensure safe blood and enhanced access to blood products, on the recommendation of the National Blood Transfusion Council. The first step is permitting the transfer of blood from one blood bank to another.
Back to the Team Red trainings - a volunteer’s experience
Recently, I was given the opportunity to do what I love the most to organise a Team Red training for students who were planning a blood donation camp in their campus at J.S.S.K.H. Kabbur Institute Of Engineering, Dharwad .