Mhow (Madhya Pradesh): A sickle cell anaemia screening campaign has been launched by the district administration jointly with the Indian Red Cross Society and Path Centre Lab. The aim of the campaign is to raise awareness among the general public.
Akshat Jain, the sub-divisional officer and president of the Red Cross Society said that the sample size of 20,000 persons has been fixed for the screening in the tehsil of which 80% of the population will be below 21 years of age and the remaining 20% would be between 21 and 40 years of age. Measures are being taken to include the population of tribal panchayats in this screening. This campaign was launched in the first week of and till now samples of 1,356 persons have been taken in two camps. A total of 68 sickle cell carriers and 5 sickle cell patients have been found so far.
The team is also keeping in touch with families of sickle cell anaemia patients and recording information at health centres nearest to their residences.
The families are being counselled by the health department about the precaution to be taken by such patients. Arrangements are being made for haemoglobin tests for such patients at regular intervals so that any need for blood transfusion can be ascertained in advance. Office Superintendent of Red Cross Hospital Uday Singh. Chouhan has told that the team of the health department is going door-to-door to conduct the survey.
