Tag: North East India

  • Northeast tribals with sickle cell disease are outliving other afflicted tribals: Study

    Express News Service

    GUWAHATI: Tribals in the Northeast with sickle cell disease (SCD) live longer than fellow tribals suffering from the same disease elsewhere in India, a study conducted by Assam’s Bodoland University found.

    SCD (also called sickle cell anaemia) is one of the most prevalent blood genetic disorders which is caused by sickle-shaped haemoglobin and is common among tribals.

    About 2.3 per cent of the world’s population carries this defective haemoglobin. Around 44,000 children are born every year in India with SCD. 

    The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had entrusted different institutions to conduct a multi-centric study on the disease from 2019 to 2022 in six districts – Udalguri in Assam (Northeast), Kandhamal in Odisha (Eastern India), Mysuru in Karnataka (Southern India), Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh (Southern India), Annupur in Madhya Pradesh (Central India) and Chotaudeypur in Gujarat. 

    In each district, four primary health centre (PHC) areas, predominantly inhabited by tribals, were identified for the study. Two were selected randomly for implementing intervention and the two others were the control area. The intervention was implemented in all villages of two selected PHC areas but the formative research and evaluation surveys were carried out in sampled villages of all four PHC areas. 

    Prof Jatin Sarmah, Head, Department of Biotechnology, Bodoland University, said 42 people were detected with SCD in Udalguri. He said such patients die before attaining the age of adulthood but four-five patients outlived their expected life expectancy.

    “We noticed that even aged SCD patients are still surviving. Ideally, we would like to find out why their foetal haemoglobin survives naturally for long,” Prof Sarmah, who was the principal investigator of the ICMR-sponsored project in the Northeast, said.

    Normally, foetal haemoglobin keeps giving support to SCD patients for 18 to 20 years, he said. “In the cases of these four-five people, we don’t know for what factors they are still getting that support.”

    The biotechnologist also said that no institution in India ever conducted this study but some medical colleges in the US had done so.

    “Saudi Arabia is also conducting a study but our people are different. Indians have different origins and ethnicities,” Prof Sarmah pointed out while stating that the expression of some genetic factors could be behind the Udalguri story. 

    The most common acute events of SCD are pain crisis, acute chest syndrome and lung injury syndrome. With increasing age, chronic end-organ complications begin to appear and they include chronic renal failure, haemorrhagic and non-haemorrhagic stroke, necrosis of bone and pulmonary hypertension.

    The disease is prevalent among tribal populations. Remoteness, language barrier, financial hardships, poor awareness, and lack of trust in the public health care system are the main challenges in its management. 

    The Bodoland University research team’s co-principal investigator was Dr Silistina Narzari.

    Dr Bontha V Babu, Scientist-G and Head, Division of Socio-behavioural and Health System Research, ICMR, was the national coordinator of the multi-centric project.

    The ICMR initiated the country-wide study to develop a model of screening and management of SCD in the primary health care system. The intervention includes increasing awareness and preparing the communities for accessing the government health care system for SCD care and improving the capacity of the primary health care systems.

    GUWAHATI: Tribals in the Northeast with sickle cell disease (SCD) live longer than fellow tribals suffering from the same disease elsewhere in India, a study conducted by Assam’s Bodoland University found.

    SCD (also called sickle cell anaemia) is one of the most prevalent blood genetic disorders which is caused by sickle-shaped haemoglobin and is common among tribals.

    About 2.3 per cent of the world’s population carries this defective haemoglobin. Around 44,000 children are born every year in India with SCD. 

    The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had entrusted different institutions to conduct a multi-centric study on the disease from 2019 to 2022 in six districts – Udalguri in Assam (Northeast), Kandhamal in Odisha (Eastern India), Mysuru in Karnataka (Southern India), Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh (Southern India), Annupur in Madhya Pradesh (Central India) and Chotaudeypur in Gujarat. 

    In each district, four primary health centre (PHC) areas, predominantly inhabited by tribals, were identified for the study. Two were selected randomly for implementing intervention and the two others were the control area. The intervention was implemented in all villages of two selected PHC areas but the formative research and evaluation surveys were carried out in sampled villages of all four PHC areas. 

    Prof Jatin Sarmah, Head, Department of Biotechnology, Bodoland University, said 42 people were detected with SCD in Udalguri. He said such patients die before attaining the age of adulthood but four-five patients outlived their expected life expectancy.

    “We noticed that even aged SCD patients are still surviving. Ideally, we would like to find out why their foetal haemoglobin survives naturally for long,” Prof Sarmah, who was the principal investigator of the ICMR-sponsored project in the Northeast, said.

    Normally, foetal haemoglobin keeps giving support to SCD patients for 18 to 20 years, he said. “In the cases of these four-five people, we don’t know for what factors they are still getting that support.”

    The biotechnologist also said that no institution in India ever conducted this study but some medical colleges in the US had done so.

    “Saudi Arabia is also conducting a study but our people are different. Indians have different origins and ethnicities,” Prof Sarmah pointed out while stating that the expression of some genetic factors could be behind the Udalguri story. 

    The most common acute events of SCD are pain crisis, acute chest syndrome and lung injury syndrome. With increasing age, chronic end-organ complications begin to appear and they include chronic renal failure, haemorrhagic and non-haemorrhagic stroke, necrosis of bone and pulmonary hypertension.

    The disease is prevalent among tribal populations. Remoteness, language barrier, financial hardships, poor awareness, and lack of trust in the public health care system are the main challenges in its management. 

    The Bodoland University research team’s co-principal investigator was Dr Silistina Narzari.

    Dr Bontha V Babu, Scientist-G and Head, Division of Socio-behavioural and Health System Research, ICMR, was the national coordinator of the multi-centric project.

    The ICMR initiated the country-wide study to develop a model of screening and management of SCD in the primary health care system. The intervention includes increasing awareness and preparing the communities for accessing the government health care system for SCD care and improving the capacity of the primary health care systems.

  • Vice President Naidu calls for change in attitude towards India’s North-East; laments stereotyping

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Lamenting that despite being such a wonderful place, the general attitude toward the North East to this day is largely characterised by ignorance, lack of appreciation and stereotyping in the rest of India, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday urged people to visit the region to appreciate its beauty and cultural richness.

    The fact is that seven of the eight states of the region performed better than the country’s Human Development Index (HDI) in 2019, he underlined.

    “But how many of us are aware of this?” Naidu asked.

    Not many outside the region would know that the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report finds Nagaland as the safest state for women in India, he pointed out.

    The vice president also said that Assam is world renowned for its tea and silk, while Manipur, a state with just 0.24 per cent of the country’s population, produces a good number of international sportspersons.

    “True to its name, this ‘land of gems’ has given us rare gems like Mary Kom and Mirabai Chanu who have done India proud,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

    Naidu said that after his seven-day trip to the region, he has returned assured that the North-East is witnessing a new era of resurgence.

    “I have a better understanding of the men, matters, aspirations, challenges and opportunities of the region.

    A welcome development is the decline in insurgency in the region.

    I am confident that the north-eastern region would become totally free of insurgency in the near future in view of the various developmental initiatives and the strong desire of the people for peace and progress,” he said.

    Naidu urged people from other parts of the country to visit the North-East to appreciate the natural beauty and cultural richness of the region.

    “But it is disappointing to note that despite being such a wonderful place, the general attitude toward the north eastern region to this day is largely characterised by ignorance, lack of appreciation and stereotyping in the rest of India.

    This must change,” he asserted.

    “We have a lot to learn from the north-eastern states. Some time back, I saw a video of a road in Aizawl, Mizoram and was amazed to see motorists observing strict traffic discipline even though no traffic cop is in sight. This is a rare sight in other big Indian cities,” he said to drive home his point.

    Naidu said although he wanted to cover all the states in the region, he decided against visiting Mizoram to enable the state administration focus more on dealing with an upsurge in COVID-19 cases.

    Later this month, he will undertake a three-day visit to Sikkim and Darjeeling from October 20, he said.