Odisha gears-up to tackle sickle cell anaemia and thalassemia
Bhubaneswar: A two-day state-level Training of Trainers (ToT) for raising awareness and counselling on sickle cell disease and thalassemia was organized by the National Health Mission (NHM), in collaboration with UNICEF on 22nd and 23rd April in Bhubaneswar. The workshop aimed to strengthen understanding of the genetic disorders, treatment protocols, and empower communities to make informed decisions.
About 150 participants, including assistant managers-NHM, medical officers, programme assistants (Sickle Cell), and district communication officers (ADPHEO) of 30 districts and senior health officials from the state attended the training in two batches.
“Odisha has been a pioneer in the fight against sickle cell and thalassemia by launching systematic screening and awareness programmes. Today, we reaffirm our commitment to Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of eliminating sickle cell anaemia by 2047,” said Dr. Dinabandhu Sahu, Team Leader, NHM.
The sessions emphasized on awareness generation, government entitlements, and the critical role of communication in dispelling myths and misconceptions around sickle cell disease to drive positive behavioural change.
“Tackling sickle cell anaemia requires robust health interventions and effective behaviour change communication. A perfect jugalbandi of these two measures will dispel deep-rooted myths and misconceptions. The informed frontline functionaries will play a key role in targeted counselling and community engagement,” said Dr. Sugata Roy, SBC Specialist, UNICEF.
So far, 41 lakh people have been screened under the initiative, of which 3.5 lakh were identified as carriers and 1 lakh were diagnosed with the disease. The training focused on equipping healthcare professionals with skills for effective counselling, early detection, and community engagement to reduce stigma and improve health-seeking behaviour.
Dr. Pradeep Kumar Patro, Director, Blood Safety; Dr. Nirod Kumar Sahoo, Ad Tech, NHM; and Dr. Brajesh Merta, Health Officer, UNICEF, were present among others.
