With a migratory population leading to a rise in the incidences of genetic disorders such as sickle-cell anaemia and thalassaemia, the Health Ministry has now prepared a blueprint to tackle the life-threatening disease from acquiring alarming proportions.

The plan — to be implemented at the national level from the 12th Five Year Plan — has been submitted to the Planning Commission. It involves designated centres identifying haemoglobin disorders, its prevention and the treatment with the major emphasis on imparting training to the doctors and technical persons at the district level.

The national programme to tackle the genetic disorders becomes necessary in view of increasing migration, particularly of labourers from the areas which are endemic to such diseases. The plan will be implemented across the country, said Dr Sumita Saluja, member of the core working group of experts, constituted by the Director General of Health Services (DGHS).

She added that stress is being given on creating awareness about the diseases to patients as well as setting up adequate infrastructure such as HPLC Machines (High Performance Liquid Chromatography) to identify the prospective carriers of the disease.

The basic facilities to manage the patients will be ensured with their systematic screening and the diagnosis so that the people are aware of their disease as also their carrier status.

The persons having such genetic disorders should not marry as it will be fatal for their offspring, said Dr DK Gupta, senior specialist (Haematology) from Delhi-based Safdarjung Hospital.

He said for instance, sickle-cell problem is more prevalent in the tribal areas of Odisha, Bengal and Bihar as well as pockets of Maharashtra. “In north India, it is not common. But we do find a good number of cases of thalassaemics.”

“Ideally, the disease should be identified at birth as part of a screening programme or neonatal diagnosis and affected individuals urged to attend a centre periodically for evaluation.”