When Muhammad Shaheem, 17, from Karnataka was diagnosed with severe thalassemia at just five months old, regular blood transfusions became a part of his childhood. Years of transfusions, however, led to severe iron overload that affected his heart and liver, making a stem cell transplant a particularly high-risk procedure.

A possible way out came from within his own family when Shaheem’s younger sister, Zara, 7, was identified as a full Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA)-matched donor. After extensive preparation and counselling at the Sankalp-Bhagwan Mahavir Jain Hospital in Bengaluru, his family decided to proceed with the transplant.

Their mother, Zareena, who lives with thalassemia major, said, “I continue to undergo treatment and regular blood transfusions. Though it was a difficult decision to make in my son’s case, it has ultimately given my son a second chance for better life without being troubled much by the disease.”

Mr. Shaheem is among 1,000 children who have undergone paediatric stem cell transplants with help from Sankalp India Foundation, DKMS, and Cure2Children. The procedure is both risky and expensive, and the treatment cost in India ranges from ₹12 lakh to ₹40 lakh.

On Friday (September 4), Sankalp, along with international nonprofit organisation DKMS and medical partner Cure2Children Foundation, completed 1,000 stem cell transplants for children suffering from thalassemia.

Of these transplants, DKMS has supported the transplantation costs of more than 820 children. On the other hand, Sankalp currently provides care to more than 3,000 children through 30 thalassemia day-care centres and operates paediatric bone marrow transplant centres in Bengaluru and Ahmedabad.

Rajat Kumar Agarwal, president of Sankalp India Foundation, said, “For us, these 1,000 transplants are 1,000 beginnings and proof that cure can be made accessible when organisations combine their strengths with a shared purpose. It shows how centres in resource-constrained settings can still achieve success in medicine and internationally recognised quality while keeping transplantation affordable and accessible.”