This year a young couple with 11 month old baby girl named as Prachi Bhanushali contacted us for help with Bone Marrow Transplantation.

It was more than a year back when we a family who had two little girls suffering from thalassemia from Afghanistan approached Cure2Children Foundation for help with HLA typing. The family was overjoyed to find that both the girls had a match. The father of the girls is a driver and could not have afforded transplantation. Zwan family charities, Kabul decided to help the family and approached Dr Lawrence Faulkner for help with the transplantation.

Normally, when you tell a family which has a child who suffers from thalassemia, that they have a match, at least for one moment you expect to see a smile. This was not the case when we broke the news to five-year-old Nirmitha's family. She was detected with thalassemia within the first year of her birth and ever since she was dependent on monthly blood transfusions. Though they did come for the follow-up meetings, the expression on their face did not suggest that they were willing to go for the transplant.

Asia Pacific Bone Marrow Transplantation Meet was organised at Singapore from 28-30 October 2016. The Sankalp-Cure2Children Network was happy to have 6 of our posters selected to be presented at the meeting. In-line of our commitment to transparency, innovation and quality we continue to scientifically analyse and share our work.

How do we offer transplants to more children?

How do we make transplantations safer?

How to we ensure that the best quality is delivered at the least cost?

How to we setup an environment which enables everybody involved to achieve personal and professional excellence?

Sundays are busy at Samraksha. Several families are there for the weekly therapy and counselling. Some are there just to chat about the upcoming transplantations scheduled for their children. I had a message delivered to me today by the mother of one of the children who had undergone transplant today.

Sankalp India Foundation, Bangalore, Think Foundation, Mumbai and We Care Trust, Mumbai collaborated with Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital,Mumbai and had started a Bone Marrow Transplantation Project at Mumbai for Thalassemia patients coming from financially poor background. The project was started in April 2016 and Karan Veer Singh from Think Foundation was the project coordinator. The first child who was transplanted was about to get discharged and the second child had got admitted. At this time we had a shocking news.

The decision whether to undergo BMT might be a difficult one for many families and patients. As a general rule most children born with thalassemia who have regular access to appropriate supportive care may have a long and productive life.

"State level Consultation on Status of Thalassemia and Other Hemoglobinopthies in Karnataka" was organised by Sankalp India Foundation with the major thalassemia centers in Bangalore as co-hosts on 9th of March 2016 at Rashtrotthana Parishat, Bengaluru.

23rd March Bangalore

With the support of DKMS Germany and Cure2Children, Italy, Sankalp India Foundation has been offering free HLA typing to patients from all over the country. Several of these patients find a match within their families. Once the match is found, starts the journey of screening and preparation for the transplantation.