Evercare Hospital Dhaka has successfully completed the treatment of thalassemia in a 21-months-old child for the first time in Bangladesh.
The hospital treated the child's disorder through a haploidentical bone marrow transplant (BMT) on May 5, said a press release on Wednesday.
Dr Abu Jafar Mohammed Saleh, coordinator and senior consultant of the Hematology and Stem Cell Transplant, said: “In Bangladesh, about eight million people have thalassemia. However, because most of them are asymptomatic carriers of the disease, they remain unaware of it.
“For this reason, the disease is sometimes called a silent killer. Among those who have thalassemia, there are 50 to 70 thousand patients for whom treatment is required.”
The doctor also added that the only curative treatment option is a bone marrow transplant, but the biggest obstacle is finding a donor because the thalassemia family is generally smaller in size and the chance of a full match is less than 10%.
Dr Arif Mahmud, deputy director of Medical Services, said: “All types of treatment modalities for blood cancer patients are available at the hospital at affordable price. So, no need to go abroad seeking any medical treatment.”
