Dr. Pandey nominated in WHO expert panel

BY OUR CORRESPONDENT Banke, July 20: Dr. Rajan Pandey, a senior physician at the Nepalgunj-based Bheri Hospital, who identified sickle cell anaemia disease as a public health problem in the Tharu community for the first time in Nepal, has been nominated to the Sickle Cell Anaemia Clinical Protocol Development Expert Panel of the World Health Organisation.

He has been nominated to the panel of the WHO on the recommendation of the NCDI Poverty Commission Nepal for his special work in the discovery, research and treatment of sickle cell anaemia, which is common in the Tharu community of Nepal.

Sickle cell anaemia, which is seen as a public health problem in the Tharu community of western Nepal, has left hundreds of families in trouble. 

Millions of rupees have to be spent on the treatment of the disease, which results in poverty.  Although the government has been providing Rs. 100,000 to patients of sickle cell, many patients have not received the amount and some of those who have received the amount say the amount is not sufficient for the treatment, said Dr. Pandey. 

He said that the disease can be eradicated if people get married only by examining blood of bride and groom instead of the birth chart.

Doctors have suggested that before marriage, blood test should be made mandatory for both boys and girls, and after the test, marriage between sickle cell patients and carriers and between sick patients and the carriers should not be allowed.

There is no difference if the patient marries a healthy person or the carrier marries a healthy person, said Dr. Pandey.  Dr. Pandey, an expert in sickle cell, has recently suggested the government to increase the scope of its test as sickle cell has started to be seen in other communities as well. 

Currently, there are 4,000 sickle cell patients across the country, and 900 patients are in contact with the hospital and receiving treatment services, said Dr. Pandey.  Stating that there may be a large number of people affected by sickle cell in the country, he added that 16,000 patients are out of treatment facility by hiding their disease. 

In order to prevent this, he suggested that sickle cell screening should be done at the time of administering measles vaccine to children.