Public awareness as crucial as treatment for sickle cell elimination: Governor

Times News NetworkKhargone: Governor Mangubhai Patel on Sunday said that public awareness was as crucial as medical treatment to achieve Centre’s target of eliminating sickle cell disease by 2047.Addressing a sickle cell awareness camp at Jhirnya in Khargone district, the Governor stressed the need for premarital screening, antenatal testing and early diagnosis. He urged communities to spread awareness and proposed appointing ‘Sickle Cell Mitras’ in every village, on the lines of TB Mitras, to assist patients and educate people.Patel said that the digital health cards had been prepared for all identified sickle cell patients with treatment available through both allopathic and Ayurvedic systems.On the occasion, he inaugurated a blood storage unit and flagged off two ambulances and a hearse to strengthen healthcare services in the tribal-dominated region.The blood storage unit will initially hold 10–15 units of blood, benefiting pregnant women needing emergency transfusions, road accident victims and sickle cell patients, with capacity to be expanded as needed, while the two additional ambulances will improve emergency response in remote villages where institutional deliveries remain low.

The hearse will reduce dependence on private vehicles in hilly areas, officials said.During the programme, governor distributed sickle cell certificates and food baskets to tuberculosis patients, administered polio drops under Pulse Polio campaign, visited departmental stalls, and joined the public in listening to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Mann Ki Baat. He later had lunch at the home of a Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana beneficiary in Marugarh village.