Uganda’s first bone marrow transplant

Uganda has just achieved a groundbreaking milestone in healthcare. For the very first time, local doctors at the Uganda Cancer Institute successfully performed a bone marrow transplant. 

The patient, 45-year-old Stephen Sande from Namayingo District, was treated for multiple myeloma (a blood cancer affecting plasma cells) and discharged on April 24, 2026.

This historic procedure was led by Dr. Clement Okello, Consultant Haematologist, and Dr. Henry Ddungu, Head of the Blood Cancers Unit, supported by a multidisciplinary team of specialists. 

The transplant, an autologous stem cell procedure using the patient’s own cells, cost about $15,000 locally, less than half the $30,000 to $50,000 it would have cost abroad. 

Fully funded by the Ugandan government, the operation required 22 days of isolation in a sterile environment to rebuild immunity. 

This success marks a turning point for Ugandan medicine, proving that highly specialized treatments can now be done at home, saving lives and reducing costs for patients who once had no choice but to travel overseas. 

Report by John Musenze 

Narration by Marjorine Namugenyi 

Transcript

SPEAKER_06 0:03

A bone marrow trustment was just a drink for most Ugandans, an unreachable treatment reserved for those who could afford to travel abroad. But last Friday, April 24th, 2026, history was made.

SPEAKER_00 0:18

I'm now able walking, walking, driving.

SPEAKER_06 0:24

Stephen Sunday became Uganda's firstborn marrow transplant patient thanks to a dedicated team of the Uganda Cancer Institute. At the heart of this breakthrough is Dr. Clement Okello, a man whose journey also began in a small village in Karamoja. Once drawn to the priesthood, he followed his passion for science, eventually earning a degree at Makereda University and specialized training abroad.

SPEAKER_02 0:52

Our patient has been discharged to go back home. That is a controlled environment. We do not expect lots of visitors to visit. And worst of it would be that crowd is celebrating that patent that QR. No, that's not what we expect. Go and contact himself out of the update customer and master and contact the cloud. It's actually after fetching. It's the need to stop me after. Remember that if you want to afford the market, and then they get injected even before they're going to be able to do that. So that is our patient checking out as not even short of the patient. So after a minimum period of about three months, some people will start giving vaccination after six months so that when it begins, now it's scheduled to get a vaccination. Right now, what it has is really a very fragile patient.

SPEAKER_06 2:26

Alongside Dr. Okello is Dr. Henry Dungu, a seasoned hematologist with decades of dedication. His work in hematology laid the groundwork for this milestone.

SPEAKER_04 2:39

This patient was treated for a condition called martipomyeloma, and his diagnosis was made about seven months ago. And when he gave his story, it's a disease that had really debilitated him. He had become bedridden and then he moved to a wheelchair until when he stabilized. And uh it is after this that we have now gone into transplanting him with his own stem cells. Matromanoma patients are quite many, but not all of them qualify for a bono transplant. A person qualifies when of course the disease has been cleared, but also we look at the functionality of the patient. We used to say that if you are above 60 years, then we don't do a transplant. But now we look at how strong you are. Even if you are 70, if you are strong and you perform well, we can say you qualify the transplant.

SPEAKER_07 3:54

So from consent, um, then we go to where we mobilize the stem cells. We make sure these stem cells come from the bone marrow into the system where we'll be able to collect them. So also that is done by the nurse. So when we are done with mobilizing the stem cells, uh, then we go to collecting the stem cells. Now that procedure, that afferes procedure, is completely a nursing procedure. The doctor will just prescribe it, but from start to end, that procedure takes about six hours, but it is all run by the nurse, the patient is mounted by the nurses, the machine is run by the nurses, so we work as a team.

SPEAKER_06 4:41

In the lab, Dr. Sylvester Kahumbula ensured every scientific step was precise, adopting international best practices to fit Uganda's context.

SPEAKER_03 4:52

The BFT team, like I said, um the team leader for the Rabat who have worked in one establishing the North Protocol, two, prepare into order via the logistics to make sure we covered the current process, we will establish the protocol that we've been following, the other people that are in here because here we will believe it is what we document that we do that we start with. So establish all that work from my individual pathway is your cable science.

SPEAKER_01 5:36

My uh the specific role uh as a pharmacist uh was to handle a uh complex high-dose uh chemotherapy, which was used to kind of lower the immunity of the patient prior to the transplant. Another role which we had to play because of the high-dose means of the patient was actually to get the uh medicine toxicity. So we had to uh we had to come together with the team and ensure that the patient does not experience toxicity, which means there were some uh problematic medications that we had to give to the patients.

SPEAKER_06 6:32

And so, it is this extraordinary team, doctors, nurses, scientists who have redefined what is impossible in Uganda. Together, they have brought a dream to life, one that once seemed impossible. These teams didn't just perform a medical fast. They ignited a movement, and in their courage and collaboration, Uganda steps broadly into a new era of medical excellence.

SPEAKER_05 7:02

I am glad and excited that you have all seen the transplant team, and all of them are Uganda. One in Uganda, made in Uganda. I'm sure you did not see any different colour from Uganda. So for me as the Minister for Health, I am extremely, extremely proud of these new health team, and I want to congratulate you for being very brave and I think in Uganda.