Karnataka Budget 2018: Rs 12 crore for bone marrow transplant unit at Kidwai hospital in Bangalore

BENGALURU: In a relief to patients suffering from blood disorders and cancer, Rs 12 crore has been allocated in the state budget to set up a bone marrow transplant (BMT) unit at the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology in the city.

If the unit is set up, Kidwai Institute will join the league of Tata Memorial Hospital of Mumbai and AIIMS which have similar facilities.

Kidwai Institute director K B Lingegowda said the new unit will be operational in a year. “CM H D Kumaraswamy took the decision to set up a (BMT) unit at Kidwai after receiving personal requests from patients and a visit to our hospital,” he said.

Bone Marrow transplants are medical oncology procedures that owe their high costs to the requirement zero infection rooms where patients are housed. Dr Girish Badarkhe of Health Care Global Hospital said though the country needs 400-500 transplant units, only 50-60 are operational and only a handful of them are government-owned.

Those suffering from blood cancer, thalassemia, sickle cell anaemia and immuno-deficiency disorder are treated with bone marrow transplants.