Mismanagement, ignorance cause 7 to 10 deaths every day due to sickle cell anaemia: experts

Posted: Saturday , Jun 20, 2009 at 0118 hrs IST Related ArticlesMost Read Articles


Almost a decade ago, the Baroda Medical College (BMC) became the first institute in the state to initiate research on the genetic disorder of sickle cell anaemia, which has affected a huge portion of tribal population in Gujarat. But in the past four years, the medical college has seen a complete stagnancy with no research proposals in line.



In a five-year project of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), between 2000 and 2005, the BMC had initiated the project of sickle cell anaemia and Thalassemia screening in antenatal and college students.



The project was jointly funded by ICMR and the state government with Rs 75 lakh for the project and Rs 50 lakh for the infrastructure development of genetic laboratory.



However, after completion of the project, the BMC had proposed to carry out a second phase of the same project focusing on the prenatal diagnosis of sickle cell anaemia and Thalassemia. “Since this is a genetic disorder, there is a 50 per cent chance of passing on of the disease to the progeny. The aim of the project was to study the prevalence of sickle cell at the foetus level so that the genetic disorder can be detected and stopped before the birth of the infant,” said Dr R Z Patel, retired associate professor of the Pathology Department, BMC.