The successful completion of an allogenic bone marrow transplant on a two-year-old child marked yet another significant milestone for Odisha's healthcare system at the Sriram Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Hospital (SCBMCH) in Cuttack. This is the first time a child in Odisha has undergone such a procedure.

The SCB Medical College's Hematology Department performed the procedure on Wednesday. The fact that the donor was a four-year-old girl, however, brought it even more attention and created yet another unique situation.

In the heartwarming story, shared by SCB MCH on X (formerly Twitter), a two-year-old girl, named Aliza Naaz from Dhanbad in Jharkhand, was suffering from blood cancer and was under treatment outside Odisha. However, she required an urgent bone marrow transplant to survive.

The procedure would have cost Rs 40 lakh but the Odisha Government stepped in and bore the entire cost. Thereafter, SCB Medical College stepped in and carried out the transplant procedure using stem cells from the bone marrow of her elder sister, Aatifa Naaz.