Ghana’s First Bone Marrow Transplant Successful

Ghana has recorded for the first time a successful bone marrow transplant for a five-year-old girl with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD).

The operation which was conducted at the Greater Accra Regional Hospital (Ridge Hospital), is the first of its kind.

The transplant took place at the Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) centre at the facility and was supervised by Dr. Edward Dela Ziga, a Pediatric Hematology, Pediatric Medical Oncology in Florida.

The process started early this month with over 60 applicants, of which six were from the West African sub-region.

Before the transplant, the Director of the Administration Dr. Wisdom Erasmus Boatri had said, the success of the transplant could be a breakthrough for the medical profession.

According to him, the transplant if successful, would change the sickling statuses of SCD patients to either sickling negative carrier or sickling carrier patients.

Blood Stem Cell transplant is a procedure that replaces the unhealthy blood-forming cells in SCD patients with healthy ones.

Dr. Ziga after the transplant promised to continue to intermittently travel to Ghana from his prestigious position in Florida to help in child health.

The BMT centre usually continues to serve persons living with SCD―sickle cell anaemia.

By: Pamela Adoley Allotey