Blood screen tests by Health Ministry - Fusion - WeRIndia

The routine checkups at the Community Health Centres and Primary Health Centres will soon have blood disorder screen tests for pregnant women and new-born babies to check for disorders like anemia, thalassemia and sickle cell. This is being done under the Health Ministry’s National Health Mission.

Currently, several blood tests are done, and pregnant women are screened for several problems like AIDS, high blood pressure, heart diseases and other diseases. Various blood ailments like hemoglobinopathies comprising of thalassemia and anemia, and several hemoglobin (Hb) variants are still causing a lot of problems all over the country, stated a senior health official.

He stated that due to so many problems in the country, there is an urgent need to test the pregnant women who are in their tremester and newly-born babies for genetic disorders as well. The senior official stated that this is as per the guidelines “Prevention and control of hemoglobinopathies in India” which was made by experts recently along with Health Ministry officials.

These guidelines are to be released shortly. The various hemoglobin variants can be directly identified using the HPLC diagnostic machine which is already available in many PHCs and CHCs. They are very effective and can have a high degree of precision in finding major and minor, normal and abnormal, hemoglobin fractions.

The official stated that the need for such guidelines is heavy. He explained that if there is a woman with the sickle cell disorder, then her health and the health of the unborn baby are more likely to be effected in the time of pregnancy as opposed to a woman who doesn’t have any disorders.

Such disorders can become very severe during pregnancy and can prove to be fatal. However, detecting these diseases in early stages with screening can help in getting prenatal care and prevent problems.

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