Indigenously developed thalassemia testing kits launched

Addressing the need for affordable diagnostic test kits for thalassemia, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today launched the first indigenously developed such device.
The kit developed by scientists of National Institute of Immunohaematolgoy (NIIH) and the Indian Council for Medical research (ICMR) will be available in government hospitals and caters especially to the the Indian population. It will be available free of cost as its manufacturing cost in India is just Rs 400.
Earlier, people had to shell out Rs 4,000 to avail the testing facility as it was being imported.
"The kit simplifies the identification of common mutations leading to formation of abnormal hemo-globins which cover around 90 per cent of all the defects seen in Beta- Thalassemia syndromes in India and thus is tailor-made for the Indian population, and thus more effective. This kit makes India self-reliant," Azad said.

There are six common mutations of haemoglobin gene as prevalent in India.
If a thalassemic carrier marries another thalassemic carrier, there are 25 per cent chances of having a thalassemic major child.

For parents opting for a second child if their first born is a thalassemic, the kit can be extremely useful and a pregnant woman can undergo the screening test withing 10-12 weeks of her pregnancy.
The diagnostic kit will cater both to thalassemia and sickle cell anaemia, DG (ICMR) Dr V M Katoch said, adding that the screening needed to be coupled with counselling.
"Inherited hemoglobin disorders are the common single gene disorders in India. Thalassemia and sickle cell disease pose a huge health burden. Overall prevalence of thalassemia carriers in India is 3-4 per cent, while in certain ethnic groups like Sindhis, Kutchi, Bhanushalis, Punjabis, Jains and Muslims, it can vary from 5 to 15 per cent," he said.

It has been estimated that there are 30-40 million carriers of thalassemia in India. 10,000 to 12,000 babies with major thalassemia syndrome along with over 5000 babies with sickle cell disease are born each year, he said.
These patients survive only on regular blood transfusions and costly medicines.