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The capacity-building approach was successful in the start-up process of the first HSCT center in Iraqi Kurdistan

Bone Marrow Transplantation volume 52, pages 1684–1685 (2017)Cite this article

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The start-up of new HSCT centers in low-middle income countries (LMIC) has received little attention, due to a lack of local resources and expertise,1 despite a high frequency of malignant and non-malignant conditions, such as thalassemia and sickle cell disease, requiring transplantation. As a result, many patients are forced to go abroad when a transplant is needed, with major problems for their families and the governments.

In 2016, the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) funded our project for the start-up of a HSCT center in the city of Sulaymaniyah, Iraqi Kurdistan. This autonomous oil producing region with a population of 8 million has entered a deep economic crisis due to the conflict with the Islamic state, with a million Syrian and Iraqi refugees seeking shelter in its territory. The project was based at the Hiwa Cancer Hospital (HCH), a major institution in the country. An Italian team of volunteers undertook the project, and the center is now autonomous and has a standard practice of autologous and allogeneic transplants. We wish to emphasize that the approach employed was designed to embed a self-sustainable activity.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Voluntary Service Association, Milan, Italy

    I Majolino, A Rovelli, M Vacca, M Verna, M Canesi & V Conter

  2. Institute for University Cooperation, Rome, Italy

    I Majolino, A Rovelli, M Vacca, M Verna, M Canesi & V Conter

  3. Hiwa Cancer Hospital, Sulaymaniyah, Iraq

    D Othman

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  1. I Majolino
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  2. A Rovelli
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  3. M Vacca
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  4. M Verna
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  5. M Canesi
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  6. V Conter
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  7. D Othman
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Correspondence to I Majolino.

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Majolino, I., Rovelli, A., Vacca, M. et al. The capacity-building approach was successful in the start-up process of the first HSCT center in Iraqi Kurdistan. Bone Marrow Transplant 52, 1684–1685 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/bmt.2017.202

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