Since Lok Nayak hospital and then GTB hospital were declared dedicated covid hospital, more than 400 Thalassemia patients registered with these hospitals were facing lot of hardship financially and physically also for quite some period.
Patients and attendant had to visit other hospitals for blood transfusions and drugs therapy. Some times they were referred from one to another hospital for arranging blood due to shortage of blood in the absence of adequate blood donations during this Covid crisis.
It is worth mentioning that Thalassemia major patients require repeated blood transfusions every 2 to 4 wks for their survival.
We had initially made arrangements in other Thalassemia managing hospitals in Delhi but patients were finding lot of difficulties in travelling long distances from one to another hospital and patients were also finding problems in arranging blood.
So Govt of Delhi issued instructions to shift GTB hospital Thalassemia branch to Delhi State cancer Institute and Lok nayak hospital Thalassemia branch to GB Pant hospital, said Dr SK Arora, Addl. Director Health with Govt of Delhi.