Muscat: The Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) will see Oman’s first national centre for treatment of blood diseases and bone marrow transplant centre coming up within its campus by 2014, according to Dr Ali Bin Saud Al Bimani, the university’s vice-chancellor.
According to Dr Salam Bin Salim Al Kindi, head of the haematology department at the university, the need for such a centre was felt as approximately 10 per cent of the country’s population suffers from blood diseases, especially hereditary blood diseases. “There’s an urgent need to tackle hereditary blood diseases in the country and we also need to boost research in genetic blood diseases.”
The five-storey medical facility will have out-patient clinics and offer day and temporary admission services for children and adults.
Al Bimani said the SQU, which opened a one-bed marrow unit in 1995, currently offers four beds and has conducted more than 230 transplants. “We have [at the SQU] achieved expansion in sophisticated bone marrow transplant from another person, transplant from the same person and cord blood transplant,” he added.
