‘Sickle cell’ screening extended till February 15

Lokmat News Network

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:

The government has extended the deadline for identifying sickle cell patients and carriers till February 15. Earlier, this drive was scheduled from January 15 to February 7. So far, during the 24-day screening campaign, three new patients and 192 new carriers have been detected in the district.

Under this campaign, blood samples of citizens are being tested mainly in the tribal-dominated tehsils of Sillod, Soygaon, Kannad and Vaijapur. Till now, blood samples of around 1.5 lakh citizens have been tested. For this drive, the zilla parishad health department purchased 2,500 testing kits from the available funds, while non-governmental organisations (NGOs) provided 210 kits, and another NGO is set to provide 300 more kits. Each kit can test the blood of 50 citizens.

Using these kits, solubility tests and electrophoresis tests have been conducted so far. Confirmatory tests are still pending, for which blood samples have been sent to the HL laboratory for examination. The possibility of detecting new patients through these confirmatory tests is low, said district health officer Dr Abhay Dhanorkar.

Meanwhile, since the campaign began on January 15, three new patients and 192 carriers have been identified in the district. Prior to this drive, the district had 52 sickle cell patients and 491 carriers. Blood testing during the campaign has been carried out by teams comprising community health officers, medical officers, health workers, multi-purpose health workers and asha workers.

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Free blood testing for citizens

Under the ‘Arunodaya sickle cell anaemia’ campaign, free blood testing is being conducted for citizens in the 0 to 40 age group. Along with testing, treatment and public awareness on sickle cell prevention are also being provided. Due to lack of information or awareness, the disease spreads. Breaking this chain is the primary objective of the campaign.

— Dr Abhay Dhanorkar, district health officer, zilla parishad