TUHIN SHUBHRA ADHIKARY

When Rejoan Rashid Fahad was admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) over a decade ago with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a form of blood cancer, few believed he would survive.

But he turned out to be one of the fortunate ones. In March 2014, DMCH -- the country’s first hospital to introduce the sophisticated and costly bone marrow transplant (BMT) procedure -- began offering the treatment.

Fahad became the seventh patient to undergo the transplant in October that year, receiving the procedure at half the fixed cost, already much lower than abroad. He made a full recovery.

Now 30 and working in Saudi Arabia for the past five years, Fahad returned to the BMT unit yesterday -- the very day it resumed operations after a long break -- rekindling hope that more patients like him will get a new lease on life.

“It’s a coincidence. Returning home after a long time, I came here to meet the doctors and nurses who gave me a second life. I am so grateful to them. It feels good to see the unit resume operations. I hope many more people like me will receive treatment here,” Fahad told this correspondent.

DMCH authorities said preparations for transplantation are underway, with the service expected to resume within two to three weeks. Among government hospitals, only DMCH has this facility, while a few private hospitals and CMH also offer it.

SEE PAGE 9 COL 5