57 sickle cell patients, 523 carriers detected in district during screening drive

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

A total of 57 patients and 523 carriers of sickle cell anaemia have been detected in the district so far under the ‘Arunodaya Sickle Cell Anaemia’ special screening campaign, officials from the Zilla Parishad health department said.

Health officials said that if such screening had not been conducted, many sickle cell patients and carriers in the community might have unknowingly married other patients or carriers, which could have significantly increased the spread of the disease in the society.

The state government had launched the ‘Arunodaya Sickle Cell Anaemia’ campaign from January 15 to February 7 to move towards a sickle cell-free state. Under the drive, blood tests of suspected citizens are conducted. Later, the campaign was extended till February 15.

However, the district health department decided to continue the campaign until 6.5 lakh citizens in the district are screened. As there was no immediate funding available for blood testing, the health department requested Rs 50 lakh from the state government to continue the screening. Officials had expressed confidence that the amount would help test around 5 lakh citizens across the district.

After the state government approved the Rs 50 lakh fund, all tehsil health officers were instructed to purchase testing kits as per their requirements, and the procurement process was carried out accordingly.

Meanwhile, around 1.5 lakh citizens have already undergone blood tests using 510 kits provided by voluntary organisations and additional kits purchased by the Zilla Parishad health department with its available funds.

During the campaign that began on January 15, five new patients and 32 carriers have been detected so far. Before the campaign began, the district had 52 patients and 491 carriers.

District health officer Dr Abhay Dhanorkar said that with the funds received from the government, the health department has purchased 10,000 testing kits and aims to complete blood screening of 5 lakh citizens by the end of March.