The state government on Wednesday admitted that there are as many as 7,938 sickle-cell patients in Maharashtra. Speaker of the legislative Assembly Dilip Walse-Patil directed the government to undertake public awareness programmes in order to prevent more people from getting affected by the disease.
During a discussion in the Assembly, MLAs brought to the notice of the House that most of the patients affected by the sickness, belong to the SC, ST, OBC caste and live in the tribal areas as there is lack of awareness about the symptoms and hereditary nature of the disease. The MLAs further pointed out that if a solution is not found soon, the number of people affected could multiply.
A group of MLAs from the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions further demanded research institutes in the districts of Aurangabad, Akola, Dhule. They claimed that while most of these patients were from Vidarbha and Marath-wada, the research institutes were in Mumbai, and Pune. In Nagpur, they pointed out that more than 1,500 people were affected by the sickness.
It was further alleged that there was no account of the `53 crore granted for the disease to the health department under the Nat-ional Rural Health Scheme (NRHM). Also, despite orders from the Lokayukta in April 2011, no institution to control the sickness had been set-up, they claimed.
Answering the star question health minister Suresh Shetty said, “It is true that there are 7,938 patients in the 19 districts. The medical education and research department has a proposal to set-up a sickle-cell institution at Government Medical College, Nagpur.” The minister, however, denied the allegation that no account was kept of the money sanctioned under the NRHM.
Dr Vijaykumar Gavit, medical education minister also announced setting up of a special cell at every district hospital and medical college to help tackle the disease.