By HARRIET MUGO
The Nairobi West Hospital has performed Kenya’s first Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) treatment in a major feat to fight cancer.
According to Prof. Andrew Kanyi, the hospital’s Chief Medical Officer, the procedure was successfully performed on a female patient aged 55 years old.
The patient had a condition known as Myloma which is a type of cancer of arising in the bone marrow.
“Nairobi West is the first ever institution to start bone marrow transplant, We have successfully done a procedure and the patient is recuperating well,” Dr. Kanyi stated
He further revealed that the patient who underwent the operation is recovering and will be discharged in one to two days .
He further stated that the cost of treatment can go up to 35000 US dollars which is equivalent to Sh 4.2 million.
Kanyi added that the hospital has 6 bone marrow transplant units where they can accomodate six patients all together.
He also stated that the introduction of the treatment relieves Kenyans of the burden of traveling abroad for treatment, which most have been doing to India, Egypt, or even the United Kingdom.
”For one to donate bone to a patient he or she has to match with the bone of the patient,” he added.
The hospital’s Bone Marrow Transplant department aims to provide comprehensive, integrated, and patient-centered services for the diagnosis and management of all types of blood disorders in adults and children, including blood cancers.
BMT is a special therapy that has been used successfully to treat diseases such as blood cancer (leukemia), lymphomas, aplastic anaemia, immune deficiency disorders, and some solid tumor cancers since 1963.
”We are ready to care for lots of patients in the country and from outside the country, we assure them we will give the best services as this is a great advancement to our country at large,” He concluded
