Punjab: Thalassemia patients to be treated with goat blood in Ludhiana

LUDHIANA: For curing the Thalassemia patients of the state, the Punjab government, under its Mission Tandrust Punjab, would soon start a project in which goat blood would be injected into the patient’s body through the rectum. This project would initially be started at the Government Ayurvedic Hospital situated in Model Gram area of the city.

Dr Hemant Kumar, Incharge, Government Ayurvedic Hospital, Ludhiana, informed that the project is already in pipeline and would start very soon. "We have prepared a detailed project report and submitted with our directorate at Chandigarh. We expect that the project would start as soon as it would prove very beneficial for the Thalassemia patients," he informed.

It is pertinent to mention that this project would be funded jointly by the Punjab government and the Union government.

Dr Hemant informed that the treatment is described in Ayurveda as ‘raktabasti’. He said that in this technique of curing the Thalassemia patients, the goat blood is injected into a patients body through the rectum and it does not let the haemoglobin level in the patient drop. He said that along with injecting the goat blood, the patients are also given tablets to increase immunity, along with “desi ghee” made from goat bones.

He further informed that when this treatment starts, the number of times patient needs blood transfusion decreases considerably. He said that if earlier, the blood transfusion is to be done four times a month, then with the help of this treatment, the frequency drops to half or even less, till the patient is fully cured. This does not let the haemoglobin level in the patient drop, and over a period the need for blood transfusion goes.

This project has been running successfully at some hospitals in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. The doctor informed that the hospital in Ahmedabad (Gujarat) has been carrying out this treatment since 1984. A team of seven doctors from the Punjab government, including Dr Hemant Kumar, have already been trained in this programme at a hospital in Gujarat.