The need of the hour is to prioritize prenatal diagnosis and counseling to prevent diseases such as thalassemia in our society, said Prof. CBK. Mohanty, Pro-VC, School of Medicine, KIIT-DU. While speaking at the World Thalassemia Day celebration at Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS), he advised doctors and health workers to engage in year-round awareness generation activities as well as educate caregivers and share responsibility to ensure children suffering from the disease receive the best possible care.
In the inaugural session KIMS Principal Prof. A. P Mohanty, Medical Superintendent Prof. R. C. Das, HoD Paediatrics Prof. Manas Behera, Indian Academy of Paediatrics (IAP) Odisha president Dr. N. M. Jena, IAP Khurda president Dr. Jagannath Rao and representative from Central IAP Group Dr. Mrutyunjay Das spoke. The theme of this year’s celebration is “Be aware, share, care: Strengthening education to bridge the Thalassemia care gap.”
Experts from various fields opined to stand united to fight the sufferings of the thalassemic kids as Odisha remains a major region with the disease burden in the entire world. During the occasion A continuing medical education (CME) was organized where experts spoke on “Diagnose thalassemia pathology”, “Transfusion guidelines in thalassemia”, “Chelation and follow-up plan due to iron overload in thalassemic children,” “Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in thalassemia”, “Can thalassemia be prevented? Point of view of Obstetrics and Gynaecology” and “Nursing management in thalassemia” were discussed through interactive sessions as hundreds of MBBS, PG students, faculty members from Paediatrics, Paediatric-Hematology, Haematology, Transfusion Medicine (blood bank), Gynaecology, Biochemistry, Pathology and Community Medicine were present.
Parents and their kids under treatment with the disease, at KIMS and are doing well, were also present at the CME and they were also greeted by the audience. Nursing students presented a skit with the theme on World Thalassemia Day. Prizes were also given to KIMS students who took part in a poster making competition on the occasion. The programme was organised by Prof. Nirmal Mohakud, Secretary IAP Khurda and Dr. Palas Dash, Pediatric-Hematologist, KIMS