October 4, 2015 - First Thalassaemia Day Care Centre in Jalna

The first Thalassaemia Day Care Centre in Jalna was inaugurated on 4^th October 2015, the honours being done by Sarthak Shinde, an 8 year-old thalassaemic. In attendance during the ceremony were Mr. Pusaram Mundada of Janakalyan Blood Bank, Dr. Agrawal of Om Multi-speciality Hospital, thalassaemic children and their parents. The 6-bedded centre will provide free blood transfusions to 40 children to begin with, and will be operational on Tuesdays and Fridays. The children will also be provided with iron chelators, and will be supported for all investigations ar per guidlines for management of patients. On the day of the inaugurations, 6 thalassaemic children received blood transfusions.

The inauguration was the culmination of a process which started after a conversation between Mr. Pusaram Mundada and our Vice President, Mr.  Vinay Shetty. Mr. Vinay Shetty was invited to Jalna to address the thalassaemic children and their parents. During the workshop, which was also attended by local doctors and community leaders; our Foundation felt that the condition of the patients was very serious. We organized a laboratory team to go from Mumbai to Jalna and collect blood samples of all the thalassaemic children, for carrying out various investigations. This was followed by our Foundation taking a team of doctors, led by Dr. Mamta Manglani, to Jalna. Proper medical examination of the children was carried out by the doctors, which was followed by counseling of the parents. The more critical cases identified during the camp were asked to come to Mumbai for immediate attention.

Think Foundation felt it necessary to establish a Day Care Centre, where comprehensive management would be provided to the children. We were lucky when Dr. Agrawal of Om Multi-speciality Hospital, who was identified by Mr. Pusaram, consented to partner with us by providing space within their facility. This was followed by inviting a team from the Hospital to come to LTMG (Sion) Hospital for training on the various aspects of the running of a Thalassaemia Day Care Centre.  

In the long run, the Centre hopes to provide total management of treatment to all thalassaemic children in Jalna and surrounding areas.