In Gujarat, the Indian Red Cross Society Gujarat Chapter has initiated a pilot program Named ‘Thalassemia Prevention Program' to prevent thalassemia major childbirths with the assistance of the Gujarat government.
There are now 8,000 children in Gujarat with thalassemia major, and one lakh children with this condition across India. 10,000 new children are born with thalassemia major each year, while 700 to 800 new children are born with this disease in Gujarat each year.
The goal of this effort is to reduce the number of kids with thalassemia. The execution of this pilot project has begun at various government hospitals in Ahmedabad City: Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, Sola Civil Hospital, ESI Hospital, and three hospitals of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, as well as all of the city's urban centers, Said Indian Red Cross Society Gujarat official
The project's goal is to lessen the occurrence of thalassemia major newborns and relieve parents of having to worry about their thalassemia major child for the rest of their lives.
According to Project, if a woman comes to this hospital for the first time after becoming pregnant, she gets checked for thalassemia. If a pregnant woman is diagnosed with thalassemia minor, her husband is also checked. If the woman's husband also has thalassemia minor, then prenatal diagnostic tests are performed to monitor the unborn child. After the tests, It is possible to tell whether the upcoming baby has Thalassemia Minor or Major from above. If the infant has thalassemia major, then the doctor will perform an abortion. In Ahmedabad, 600 such abortions were performed.
Dr. Anil Khatri Project head of the Indian Red Cross for Gujarat Said, “If both the husband and woman have thalassemia minor, there is a 25% probability that the child will be major or minor in each pregnancy. A pilot initiative in Ahmedabad tested 8 lakh pregnant mothers, and 600 children were discovered to have thalassemia major. In which 600 children were saved from being born with thalassemia major because of legal abortions.”
“As part of the pilot initiative, all government hospitals in Ahmedabad are doing proper screening for thalassemia in pregnant ladies. However, private hospitals do not rigorously adhere to this. Because there is no such thing in law.” Said Dr. Khatri.
On the condition of anonymity, a husband and wife stated, "We had no idea we had thalassemia minor. There was no test performed prior to marriage. But when the kid was born, he was continuously unwell and had a fever, and when we brought him to the doctor, he urged us to get a thalassemia test.”
“My child has thalassemia major, according to the Test results. After that, we had a thalassemia test, and the results showed that we have thalassemia mild. The toddler is currently receiving blood transfusions on a monthly basis. It’s very painful to see your child every month in the hospital," they added.
