THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The health department has decided to provide a special Onam food kit for sickle cell anaemia patients. The kit will contain eight items, including jaggery, tea powder, sugar and green grams, collected from Civil Supplies and Consumerfed.
Health Minister Veena George said the festival kit was introduced for the first time and is in addition to the nutrition kits given to the patients. The kit will be distributed in collaboration with the health department and the Association of sickle cell patients on Friday and Saturday. The minister said the government is preparing innovative systems for the treatment of sickle cell.
The Ashadhara scheme, being implemented to help haemophilia, thalassemia and sickle cell patients, has access to trained physicians and dedicated staff nurses in every major government hospital. A 10-bed special ward has been set up at Mananthavadi Hospital. 108 ambulance service was made available to take patients to the hospital free of charge. Sickle cell anaemia is a genetic disease that can be passed on from one generation to another.