Apart from AIIMS in New Delhi, the state-run SSG Hospital in Vadodara has become the country′s only wholly government medical college to receive a stem cell harvesting license. The Central Licensing Approval Authority (CLAA) for stem cell harvesting granted a license to the blood center of SSG Hospital, central Gujarats largest facility, clearing the path for future bone marrow transplants to be less expensive.

Dr. Ranjan Aiyer, medical superintendent of SSG Hospital, indicated that having an apheresis license would be beneficial. They had initiated autologous transplants in cancer patients and those with various hematological problems recently. On Tuesday, the public hospital performed its third autologous stem cell transplant, this time on a 71-year-old female patient with multiple myeloma.

For such transplants, the hospital is now dependent on private/corporate laboratory setups. Stem cells are immature cells that circulate in modest numbers in the peripheral circulation and can produce blood cells in the body for autologous transplantation in patients with blood malignancies, advanced solid tumors, and a variety of hematological diseases.

The cost of such stem cell transplants in private institutions can run into the thousands of rupees, but patients at SSG Hospital were treated for around Rs 30,000. According to Dr. Aiyer, they are still working to minimise the cost so that patients under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana can be benefited. (ETHealthworld, June 01, 2022)