Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar, Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare launched the third phase of Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojana (TBSY) of the Health Ministry which is being supported by Coal India Limited as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative to commemorate World Thalassemia Day, here today. She also launched the Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojana Portal.  Shri Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary, Shri Anil Kumar Jha, Secretary, Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Dr Rajiv Bahl, Secretary, Department of Health Research were also present.

 

Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder that causes a body to have less hemoglobin than normal. The Union Health Ministry has been implementing the TBSY since 2017 under the National Health Mission (NHM) and had recently completed its second phase in March 2023. The Coal India CSR-funded Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplant (HSCT) program is a unique initiative aimed at providing a one-time cure opportunity to underprivileged Thalassemia patients who have a matched sibling donor but do not have the financial resources to cover the cost of the procedure. The program has successfully completed 356 bone marrow transplants for Thalassemia patients across 10 empanelled hospitals in India during the two phases.

Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar stated that “it is important to enhance screening of the disease, create more awareness and counselling opportunities, and also increase treatment facilities to fight blood disorders such as Thalassemia and sickle cell disease”. Urging various stakeholders to come forward and lend a helping hand for strengthening the fight against blood related disorders, she stated that “Multi stakeholder approach will help to mobilize nationwide support for awareness and treatment for blood related disorders”. Appreciating the efforts of partner Ministries and other stakeholders like CIL, she encouraged them to continue their efforts towards removing stigmas and misconceptions associated with such hereditary diseases and generate more awareness to address the knowledge gap surrounding sickle cell disease. She congratulated Coal India Limited (CIL) and Thalassemics India for joining the Union Health Ministry in launching the third phase of TBSY.

Dr Pawar also released the Standard Treatment Workflow for Sickle Cell Disease on the occasion. This has been developed by ICMR. The Union Minister further highlighted the need to take advantage of various initiatives of the Union Government for treatment of diseases like sickle cell anemia such as the e-Raktkosh portal for blood transfusion requirements and the network of over 1.5 lakh Health and Wellness Centres for treatment and diagnostic care.