40 tribal people test positive for sickle cell disease in Chamarajanagar

Mysuru: As many as 40 tribal people have tested positive for sickle cell disease (SCD) in Chamarajanagar district, which has a significant tribal population.
According to authorities concerned, among 65 suspected cases, sickle cell disease was confirmed in 40 primitive tribal people. Besides free treatment, all these patients will be provided with disability cards in the coming days.
The positive cases came to light during a screening carried out among the primitive tribal population belonging to Soliga, Betta Kuruba, Jenu Kuruba, and Yerava tribal communities under the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission (NSCAEM) over the last year.
Sickle cell disease, also known as sickle cell anaemia, is a group of hereditary blood disorders characterised by an abnormality in oxygen-carrying haemoglobin molecules in red blood cells. This leads to a propensity for the cells to assume a sickle-like shape under certain physiological conditions.
During a review meeting, DC Shilpa Nag informed that 14,470 members of these primitive tribes were screened for the disease. The treatment for 40 patients has begun, she informed.
Meanwhile, the district health department has launched the screening of the remaining Scheduled Tribe population, including those who stay in urban areas, for the disease.
According to district health officer Dr S Chidambara, around 17,000 Scheduled Tribe members were screened for the disease using the absorbance spectroscopy-based test, called HPOS. "In all, about 283 non-primitive ST individuals were suspected of having the disease and among them, 23 people underwent further tests, and the disease was confirmed only in two persons," he explained.
Dr Chidambara informed that all those who test positive for sickle cell disease will be given disability cards in the coming days, and they will get all the required support, including monetary assistance.
"Screening, treatment, and medicine are provided for free under the NSCAEM," he stated.