Thursday, 14 May at 11:00 am Cure2Children, represented by its scientific coordinator Dr Lawrence Faulkner, was part of the delegation together with the Italian Vice Minister Fazio, that met with the Minister of Health of Pakistan Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani. Among the others present were Prof. Maria Luisa Lavitrano, Director Fazio Deputy Minister, Prof. Enrico Garaci, President Institute of Health, Prof. Alessandro Nanni Costa, Director of the National Transplant Centre, and Dr. Pietro Malara, Bilateral Agreements Office Director.
On the agenda is the collaboration for the production of medicines and vaccines, and the second point on the bone marrow transplantation for the treatment of thalassemia ,of which the extended notes prepared by Dr Pietro Malara are given below.
Collaboration in the haematological sector for the treatment of thalassemia by bone marrow transplantation
Emphasis is put on the work of Dr. Lawrence Faulkner, an Italian pediatrician onco-haematologist of English origin, with particular expertise in the transplantation of stem cells applied to serious childhood diseases. Dr. Faulkner is currently on leave from the Meyer Hospital of Florence and is devoting himself full time to projects with international cooperation, as Scientific Coordinator for Cure2Children Foundation. The mission of the Foundation, founded in January 2007, is to give support to the care of children suffering from cancer and serious blood diseases, directly in developing countries. In order to progress this an international scientific committee was set up for working principles, knowledge transfer and promotion of local sustainability.
The activities of Dr. Faulkner in Pakistan is focused on the treatment of thalassemia major (5000 new cases per year and 65,000 children registered), a genetic blood disease which causes deadly anemia, but is treatable with bone marrow transplantation in over 80% of cases of low risk and with a compatible donor. Following a preparatory phase of about 2 years, on 20 January 2009, the first unit of bone marrow transplantation in a Pakistani government hospital was inaugurated, the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad, in the presence of the Minister of Health Jakhrani and Ambassador Prati. On that occasion, the Pakistani Minister of Health was invited to Italy. To date, this centre and two others in Islamabad and Karachi, have provided transplants for 10 children with excellent results, comparable to those obtained in rich countries (however costing 10 times less).
The Foundation Cure2Children appears to be the only international organization in Pakistan that deals with stem cell transplantation and onco-haematological pediatric diseases. According to Dr. Faulkner there could be the basis for extending the project in a joint venture between Italy and Pakistan on biotechnology. A first realistic and useful objective would be to prepare a bank of placental blood in Islamabad with stringent quality and safety criteria guaranteed by the Italian know-how in this field. At present in Pakistan because there is no structure of this type and the transplantation of bone marrow is restricted to the minority of cases with a compatible family donor, a bank of placental blood would significantly extend this possibility. The project could have in itself a potential for economic viability and form the core activity that can save many lives and keep/attract qualified professionals. Given the lower costs and the potential for experience and Scientific visibility, this project could lay the foundations for health care, in attracting rich countries perhaps with a significant Muslim community, towards Pakistan.
The commendable initiative of Dr. Faulkner which must be encouraged, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by establishing the possibility of presenting the project as part of development cooperation activities.
We thank the Italian Ambassador in Islamabad, Dr Vincenzo Prati for his support, and for giving us the opportunity to be part of a meeting that is so important for the potential to achieve great results for the health of many children.
Prof’s Lavitrano and Nanni Costa expressed the interest of Italian institutions to give support to the project Cure2Children in Pakistan.