'Need to explore scope of Stem Cell Therapy to benefit poor people'

Faridabad, Nov 7 : India needs to explore the possibilities, scope and effectiveness of the stem cell therapy in such a way which can benefit the patients who cannot afford this costly treatment, Dr D C S Reddy, WHO India Advisor Health, said today.

Speaking at a symposium organised by Manav Rachna International University here, Dr Reddy said the stem cell therapy is a very effective way to cure some of the most incurable diseases like cancer, thalassemia and acute liver failure, but there was also a need to find other mechanisms to cure such diseases in more effective way.

Renowned doctors, regulatory people and representatives from national and international companies dealing with Stem Cells attended the symposium organised by the University's Biotechnology Department.

Mr Vijay Kumar from Thermogenesis Corp, California, explained the process how stem cells are separated and redeveloped to cure a disease. He also gave a brief overview of the apparatus, used for stem cell therapy, developed by Thermogenesis Corp.

Dr Rakesh Ojha from Fortis Hospital gave the clinical information on the Umbilical cord Blood Transplantation (UBC) therapy used to cure acute leukemia i.e cancer. He also revealed that in India the chances to find donors for this therapy are more than in the European countries. It is interesting to know that a person having more than two siblings has the high probability of getting a same stem cell.

When asked about the cost of this therapy, Dr Ojha told that in India the cost of this therapy was between 10-20 lakhs which is 10 times cheaper than the European countries. He also said due to some ethical consideration there were only four or five cases in India in which the patients were cured with the help of this therapy, as the umbilical stem cell is separated from a newly developed foetus.

Director of Deccan College of Medical Sciences and Allied Sciences Dr C M Habibullah spoke on 'Progress of stem cell therapy in liver diseases'. Mr Habibullah also said India had lot of potential to lead the race in the field of Stem cell Therapy in Liver diseases.

Liver cell transplant was a more effective way to cure acute live failure rather than a liver transplant as it is still hard to find a donor, he added.

Mr Satyen Sanghvi, Chief Scientific Officer, RMS pvt.ltd, Mumbai, who was also among the poll of delegates, told about the benefits of Stem Cell Therapy in orthopedics where the bone and cartilage defects can be cured doing away with the pain and surgical complexities of the traditional procedure.

--UNI

(c) 2009 Published with permission from United News of India.
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