BMT unit to be inaugurated at RCC tomorrow

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 5 (UNI) The state-of-the-art bone marrow transplant (BMT) unit will start functioning at the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) here tomorrow, Kerala Health Minister P K Sreemathy informed today.

Talking to mediapersons here, she said the RCC would become the first hospital in the government sector in the country offering the expensive transplantation.

The unit, the fifth centre in the country, setup at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore using the State government's Plan funds, is equipped with sophisticated machinery and patient care units that meet international standards. Once the unit was commissioned, the RCC would have the facility to perform transplantaion on four patients at a time, she said.

Though the transplantation expense would be between Rs 15 and Rs 20 lakh in other hospitals, the RCC would provide the faciility at one-third of the amount, she said adding that it would immensly help poor patients.

UNI