CHENNAI: On the occasion of Children's Day on Tuesday, a private hospital in the city organized a Bone Marrow Transplant Survivor Children's Meet to raise awareness about rare hematological disorders.

The programme by Kanchi Kamakoti CHILDS Trust Hospital stressed that the blood cancer is completely curable and all can lead a normal life after successful treatment.

Around 25 children who survived the bone marrow transplant attended the event with their parents and consultant hematologists from various hospitals participated in the event.

Dr Deenadayalan, hemotalogist, KKCTH, said, "Beyond blood cancer, bone marrow transplants offer hope in fight against rare blood disorders. We have successfully performed bone marrow transplants for children with complex disorders such as various types of immunodeficiency, immune dysregulation, uncommon bleeding disorders and metabolic conditions."

He added that even in the absence of a fully matched family donor, we have achieved remarkable outcomes through challenging unrelated donor transplants and haploidentical donor transplants, which is a half matched donor, using advanced techniques including TCR alpha beta depletion to reduce transplant related side effects."

"Talking about the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme and the Telengana Arogya Shree Comprehensive Health Insurance Schemes being used for the transplants, Dr. Meena Sivasankaran, Hemotalogist, KKCTH said that we face challenges in obtaining funds for children with primary immunodeficiency to fight against life threatening infections, those ineligible for existing health care schemes, such as children from migrant worker's families.

"In such cases, the invaluable support from philanthropic donors and crowd funding agencies becomes a lifeline, ensuring that these children receive the necessary treatment. Their generosity plays a crucial role in making a positive impact on the lives of those facing financial barriers."