Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare launched the third phase of Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojana (TBSY) of the Health Ministry which is being supported by Coal India Limited as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative to commemorate World Thalassemia Day, here today. She also launched the Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojana Portal. Shri Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary, Shri Anil Kumar Jha, Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Dr Rajiv Bahl, Secretary, Department of Health Research were also present.
Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder that causes a body to have less hemoglobin than normal. The Union Health Ministry has been implementing the TBSY since 2017 under the National Health Mission (NHM) and had recently completed its second phase in March 2023. The Coal India CSR-funded Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant (HSCT) program is a unique initiative aimed at providing a one-time cure opportunity to underprivileged Thalassemia patients who have a matched sibling donor but do not have the financial resources to cover the cost of the procedure. The program has successfully completed 356 bone marrow transplants for Thalassemia patients across 10 empanelled hospitals in India during the two phases.