Over 500 sickle cell anaemia cases detected in K’taka, finds survey

Mysuru: As many as 564 people were diagnosed with sickle cell anaemia in the state, a survey carried out under the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission (NSCAEM) revealed.According to activists, sickle cell anaemia is reported more among the primitive tribes who still lack awareness about education and health.The data was shared by Union health minister JP Nadda during the ongoing Lok Sabha session in response to a question raised by MPs Manish Tewari and Gowaalkagada Padavi.According to details shared by the minister, as many as 2,18,069 people were screened for the disease in the state , and the positivity rate was 0.26%.According to the data presented by the minister, in the financial year 2023-24, Rs 2.25 crore was approved for Karnataka under the State Programme Implementation Plan (SPIP) expenditure for screening of blood disorders, including sickle cell screening under National Health Mission (NHM). The actual expenditure was Rs 0.21 lakh.Currently, two schemes are under progress in the state for sickle cell anaemia screening, i.e., NSCAEM and Project Chandana, explained health department officials.According to the activist, the disease is found more among the primitive tribal families, especially Jenu Kuruba and Betta Kuruba tribes, who are still in the forests. State Indigenous Tribal Forum convener Vijayakumar said compared to other tribes, the primitive tribes are educationally backward. This has led to more cases, he said.According to Chamarajanagar district health department officials, blood samples are sent to JSS Hospital or Mysuru Medical College and Research Institute for diagnosis. "A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) machine was sanctioned to our district and it will start functioning soon. After that, we can test the blood samples here," said district health officer (DHO) Dr S Chidambara.According to him, among the 11,000 primitive tribe population who underwent screening, 44 tested positive. "Currently, we are screening the entire ST population, and we covered around 60,000 people. We found 800 to 900 traits among them," he said.
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