12% Children Under 5 Yrs Are Sickle Cell Carriers In Parts Of Odisha’s Kandhamal, Says Expert

Phulbani: Around 12 per cent of children under 5 years of age in G Udaygiri and Daringbadi CHC areas of the district are sickle cell carriers, said Dr MR Ranjit, senior scientist of Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC), Bhubaneswar.

He was speaking at the inauguration of the intervention phase of the National Task Force Project of Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on sickle cell disease undertaken by ICMR-RMRC in collaboration with the Health & Family Welfare department of the state government at Kalinga in G Udaygiri block on Thursday.

Dr Ranjit, the principal investigator of the project, said the two-year multi-centric project is carried out in six states including Odisha. The community health centres (CHCs) at G Udaygiri and Daringbadi have been selected as the study sites based on the prevalence of the sickle cell disease.

Inaugurating the event, Chief District Medical & Public Health Officer (CDM & PHO), Kandhamal Dr Rajashree Pattnaik said the state government has taken all possible steps to ensure that the next generation will be free from this disease.

Stating that a special unit has been established at district headquarters hospital to provide diagnostic and treatment to the sickle cell patients, she said the ICMR-national task force project will pave the way to frame the guidelines to set up such facilities at the primary health centres (PHCs) with appropriate methods for behavioural change communications.

Medical officer-in-charge and Block Public Health Officer, G Udaygiri Dr Shaktikanta Mallick said the sickle cell disease is the most prevalent inherited blood disorder and is found among the majority population in western and central Odisha. While several cost-effective interventions have reduced the morbidity and mortality from the disease in the developed countries, the access to care for the disease in India including Odisha is limited, he pointed out.

While the G Udaygiri BDO Bijay Kumar Pradhan urged the people of the block to take advantage of the diagnosis and treatment of the disease available in the project, Kandhamal Zilla Parishad member Amar Singh thanked ICMR and the state government for selecting G Udayagiri as the study site.

Present on the occasion, Panchayat Samiti chairperson Dipti Pradhan urged the ASHA workers, Anganwadi workers and the self-help group (SHG) members to actively involve themselves in the project.