Access to Transplantation

DKMS Patient Funding Program India

Financial assistance for patients in need

To facilitate access to Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (HSCT) and empower patients in need, the DKMS patient funding program seeks to offset treatment-related costs for blood cancer and blood disorder patients. Since its inception, the program has extended partial financial support to over 754 patients suffering from blood cancer and other blood disorders for the stem cell transplant, thus providing those patients with a second chance at life.

Patients who meet the eligibility criteria can request the partner hospital's transplant physician to write to the DKMS Foundation India’s patient services at patientcare@dkms-india.org. Each request we receive is evaluated against a set of pre-defined socio-economic criteria. To avail the benefits of the Patient Funding Program, the patient’s family income should not exceed 8 Lakh INR per year. In addition, eligible funding requests are reviewed by an independent medical and ethical advisory committee consisting of experienced transplant physicians and experts in the field of medical science, law, and research.

Post-Transplant Funding Support

To strengthen the commitment to patients undergoing blood stem cell transplantation, DKMS has extended the DKMS Patient Funding Program India to provide financial assistance during the critical first year post-transplant, helping to ease the burden of ongoing care. The program covers:

Routine post-transplant medications
Diagnostic investigations
Follow-up consultation charges
Management of complications such as GVHD, infections, readmissions, and ICU stays

Eligible patients can receive support up to 12 months post-transplant, with funding of up to ₹1,50,000 per patient

Impact of DKMS Patient Funding Program (2021 - 2025)

The DKMS Patient Funding program received 903 applications from 52 transplant centers across India. After due process, funding was confirmed for 754 patients (83.5%), who required a stem cell transplantation as a potential cure. Among these, 343 patients were diagnosed with blood cancer and 560 with blood disorders.
Since the launch of the extended Post-Transplant Funding support in June 2025, a total of 110 cases have been confirmed for funding in 2025.