Mapping of Sickle Cell Anaemia in the Tribal Sub-Plan Area among the Tribal Communities of the State and a Compendium of Empirical Studies & its findings on Sickle Cell Anaemia among the Tribal Communities of Odisha

Abstract

Sickle cell anaemia is the most common monogenetic disorder currently prevailing worldwide. The prevalence of the disease is high among the people of Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean. Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is one of the neglected health problems in India. Since the early 20th century, scientific and clinical research on sickle cell disease has resulted in the creation of a vast repository of scientific evidence on the disease. In the Indian context, significant research leads have been there on the disease guiding the programmatic directions towards abating sickle cell anaemia in the states and the country. This report sets out to review the state of the art of research in the field of sickle cell anaemia in India, and to consider how existing research-based information contained in the publications can influence policy formulation and managerial decision-making towards abating sickle cell anaemia in tribal areas, especially in Odisha. The sickle gene is widespread in tribal populations in most of the tribal-dominated states of the country towards which sickle cell anaemia control programs and initiatives have been operating in different states. In this context, this compendium of evidence is an initiative towards contributing to the information need of policymakers and implementers by compiling, summarizing and analysing empirical studies on sickle cell disease in India. Mapping of Sickle cell pockets in Odisha through GIS mapping helps in visualizing the state. The various blocks of Tribal sub plan areas districts have high burden of sickle cell cases, and this report has documented the sickle cell disease and sickle cell trait in Odisha. The motivation for this report is that in different ways, policymakers, managers, politicians and the general public have profound concerns about the efficiency of the initiatives taken towards addressing the increasing load of sickle cell anaemia. The contents in this report may be useful for improving policy and managerial decisions to control and abate sickle cell anaemia.