RAIPUR: It took Chhattisgarh 13 years to declare a dedicated institute as effective measures against the sickle cell anaemia. Though the prevalence of the disorder is pegged at around 15 per cent in the state, the rate estimated among the “highest” in the country.
Chhattisgarh continues to sit on its plan for another three years and could barely fill 26 (mostly administrative) of the sanctioned 180 posts for the Sickle Cell Institute, for which the government is still looking for land.
The sickle cell disorder is in Chhattisgarh, Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, western Odisha, parts of Kerala and Gujarat.
State Health Minister Ajay Chandrakar told the Assembly 154 posts of doctors, medical officers and paramedical staff are vacant. The government claimed 26 lakh of the 2.25 crore people in the state are affected by the disorder.
“We have scrutinised around a dozen districts and examined some 16 lakh students between 3-15 years. We found the prevalence rate to be around 10 per cent,” said Dr P K Patra, director general, Sickle Cell Institute.
The institute was planned at Naya Raipur, 25 km from the state capital. Now it will be near government medical college in Raipur.
“The urgency and seriousness to counter the disease in the state appears missing. What the state has been doing during the last six years is filling only the administrative posts and leaving 154 important posts vacant,” asked Janta Congress Chhattisgarh MLA Amit Jogi during Question Hour.