Pillar 2 - Improve Access to Transplantation

Tanvi was diagnosed with thalassemia at just six months old. Her father, a single parent raising two daughters in India, began a long search for a cure. That search eventually led him to DKMS, through a partnership with the Sankalp India Foundation.

Through our free HLA typing program, Tanvi’s sister Dhanvi was identified as a genetic match and for the first time, the family saw hope. DKMS helped cover about one-third of the treatment costs through its Patient Funding Program. Tanvi’s aunt stepped in as a caregiver during the critical first month after the transplant.

Tanvi was 11 years old when she received her transplant. Today, five years later, she is full of energy and her hemoglobin levels are stable. Her life is no longer defined by illness.

By supporting transplant centers in India and expanding global patient support, DKMS helps make stories like Tanvi’s possible, offering not just survival, but the chance to truly live.

The strength of our Access to Transplantation programs lies in our strong partnerships with organizations that complement our expertise. Cure2Children is one example, and we have been partners for over ten years. The nonprofit organization’s mission is to cure children with cancer and severe blood disorders by ensuring that local medical centers are directly available in LMICs.

Cure2Children was founded in Italy in 2007 by a group of parents who had lost a child to cancer and by pediatric hematologist-oncologist Dr. Lawrence Faulkner. The organization has since helped establish bone marrow transplant units in low- and middle-income countries across South-East Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Together we work relentlessly to ensure equitable access to transplantation. We spoke about our shared mission with Cure2Children’s co-founder, Dr. Lawrence Faulkner:

Why does Cure2Children focus on underserved regions of the world?

The most common life-threatening noncommunicable diseases in children globally are hemoglobinopathies – particularly sickle cell disease and thalassemia. Sickle cell disease is more prevalent in Africa, while thalassemia is more common in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. But these are also the regions where the majority of the world’s children live. Given this reality, we chose to focus on countries where our impact can be greatest: where the most affected children live and where our resources can save the most lives.

Talking of cures, how can these children be saved?

At the moment, bone marrow transplantation is the only established cure for hemoglobinopathies. It is especially effective with a matched sibling donor. We’re seeing success rates of over 90 percent in young children with either thalassemia or sickle cell disease. However, this lifesaving treatment is often out of reach in lower-income countries due to its cost. For this reason, we’re working to make transplantation far more accessible in these regions.

Ninety percent is an outstanding success rate. How can we make transplantations more accessible, though?

Our goal has been to build services based on frugal innovation and affordable care. We eliminate any cost or complexity that isn’t supported by strong evidence. If a procedure or drug doesn’t clearly improve outcomes, we don’t use it. This approach includes avoiding unnecessarily elaborate facilities and excluding expensive drugs with limited benefit. Cost is a prognostic factor: every time it prevents a child from accessing curative treatment, it results in a preventable death. That’s why our focus is firmly on affordability while maintaining high standards of safety and care – thanks in part to our collaboration with DKMS.

What has this collaboration meant for Cure2Children?

Cure2Children is a small nonprofit. In the early days, we had a proof of principle: that it was possible to make transplantation significantly more accessible in resource-limited settings. But with DKMS on board, the scale of what we can achieve has transformed. We brought the medical expertise; DKMS brought the structure, resources, and reach to expand our efforts and support more children. Together, we’ve already made a meaningful impact and we continue working toward a future where access to a cure doesn’t depend on geography or income.