Indian Tribal News Service
New Delhi
Following the launch of the ‘Sickle Cell Mission’, to prevent and eliminate the disease among tribal people, by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the celebrations of Janjatiya Gaurav Divas in Bhopal on November 15, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MTA) has conducted sensitization workshops on the subject in Jharkhand and Andhra Pradesh even as it has planned two more in Gujarat and Rajasthan. The four states have a high prevalence of Sickle Cell Disease.
The workshops involve reputed institutes, renewed hematologists, medical practitioners, paramedical staff, teachers and students from Eklavya schools. They are being conducted in collaboration with RIMS Ranchi, AIIMS Manglagiri, AIIMS Jodhpur and Surat Medical College.
Inaugurating the workshop at RIMS Ranchi, Anil Kumar Jha, Secretary, MTA, said though various states have undertaken screening programs, there is still no central database for sickle cell carriers and diseased. “It is high time to take action on prevention and elimination of sickle cell disease in mission mode,” he said and stressed on the need for data-based management and elimination plans.
Sickle Cell disease is a genetic disease prevalent amongst tribal population. About 10% of tribals are estimated to be Sickle Cell gene carriers and 1-1.5% to be having the disease. MTA is working on a road map for management, control and eradication of Sickle Cell disease and also prepared a training compendium for different stakeholders with the help of leading practitioners.
He said the MTA would support the initiative of Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) on research on CRISPER-technology involving gene editing after consultation with the Department of Science and Technology, ICMR and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Dr Naval Jit Kapoor, Joint Secretary, MTA and Vinita Srivastava, Advisor Tribal Health, gave details of various initiatives of the MTA and emphasized stressed on the need for e-registry to have a data base of sickle cell carriers and diseased. RIMS Director Dr Kameshwar Prasad was also in attendance.
Later at the 2nd workshop organized by AIIMS Mangalagiri, Dr Prasad along with the latter’s Director and CEO by Dr Mukesh Tripathi, said that all premier institutes working in Sickle endemic areas have to work together in mission mode, provide training to medical and paramedical staff at PHC and CHC level even as they highlighted the need for creating infrastructure for early detection of Sickle Cell gene in pregnant mothers through mandatory screening.
The key speakers included Haematologists, Paediatricians, Gynaecologists, Policy Makers and leaders from patients’ groups. The faculty belonged to AIIMS Delhi, CMC Vellore, Gangaram Hospital, Fortis Hospital , AIIMS Jodhpur, AIIMS Manglagiri , NIIH, IRCS, RIMS Ranchi , SCB Cuttack, PGI Chandigarh and Nagpur Medical College among others.
The other two workshops planned are in collaboration with Surat Medical College in Gujarat on November 22 (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84855963056) and with AIIMS Jodhpur, Rajasthan on November 23 (https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86292109287)
