Director’s Message
Dr. Ratna A. Sharma
MCGM-Comprehensive Thalassemia Care, Pediatric Hematology-Oncology & Bone Marrow Transplantation Centre located in Borivali, is a satellite centre of Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College & General Hospital, Sion, Mumbai.The Centre was established by MCGM in April 2017 under the able leadership of Founder Director, Dr Mamta Manglani, along with her enthusiastic team and various philanthropic organisations which supported MCGM in setting up the facilities.
MCGM-CTC, PHO & BMT Centre is a unique stand-alone “State-of-the-Art” super speciality hospital treating individuals (children and adults) living with thalassemia, children diagnosed with all types of blood disorders and various childhood cancers. This is a 58 bedded hospital with 8-bedded bone marrow transplantation (BMT) unit, the first multi-bedded BMT facility of international standards to be set up in a public sector hospital exclusively for children, with the intent to offer care and cure irrespective of the socioeconomic background of child’s family.
Bone marrow transplantation (BMT) or Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) is available at the centre as a curative option for children with refractory/relapsed cancers, bone marrow failures, Transfusion dependent Thalassemia (TDT), Inborn Errors of Immunity (IEI) and certain other blood /metabolic disorders. From 2018 to 2025 the team at the centre has performed 440 transplants. All the BMTs are done with support of various funding bodies at zero or nominal cost to the patient and the outcomes are at par with internationally published data.
Since 2018 the centre has emerged as one of the major referral centre for comprehensive care in thalassemia and sickle cell disease in the state of Maharashtra and is now recognised for this work nationally and internationally. The centre has facilities for prenatal testing as part of hemoglobinopathy prevention program, also conducts public awareness and outreach programs for these hemoglobinopathies.
Childhood cancers have good outcomes with early diagnosis and timely treatment. Our centre provides diagnostic facilities and treatment to such children free of cost through funding by various government schemes and NGOs. The ACT (After Completion of Treatment) clinic at the centre ensures that the survivors of childhood cancers merge into mainstream population and live a healthy productive life thereafter. Our highly skilled and dedicated team of palliative care personnel, medical counsellors and social workers ensures that these children and their families are supported adequately during the course of treatment with the aim that no family abandons the treatment of the child for any reason.
The Home Away from Home (HAH) facility, 200 metres away, was started by the centre along with Access Life Foundation in Jan 2025. It houses 18 families at any given time for ensuring hassle free comfortable stay just like home throughout the duration of child’s treatment, which could mean anywhere between 6-9 months.
The zeal of the team has driven us to participate in many national and international multicentric research trials in the field of pediatric hematology, oncology and BMT. Our enthusiastic young researchers also include the post-doctoral fellows enrolled with us for the fellowship programs under the aegis of both Indian College of Physicians (ICP) and Maharashtra University of Health Sciences (MUHS). These fellowship programs in Pediatric Hematology-Oncology and Pediatric BMT give an opportunity for strengthening the educational training thus ensuring the country always has skilled medical forces to treat these children with cancers and blood disorders, bringing the latest developments in the field to the bedside.
As a team we are committed to continue our endeavour to give cure and comfort to these children battling cancers and other blood disorders in the most scientific way with the help of all supporting organisations who have joined hands with us in our mission.
“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success”
-Henry Ford