Thalassaemia and sickle cell anaemia diseases are prevalent in Kalahandi

Orissa govt asked to make AIDS testing compulsory
Zeenews, June 14, 2009

Berhmapur (Orissa), June 14: The Orissa government has been urged by social workers to make blood tests of brides and grooms compulsory before marriage to screen and check the dreaded AIDS.

''The blood examination will reveal if the bride and groom have been afflicted with any deadly disease and it is only way to arrest their spread among the next generation,'' Loknath Mishra, director of Aruna, an NGO working to tackle AIDS and spread awareness about the deadly disease.

The blood test should made mandatory to check increasing incidence of AIDS in the state, said Sudhir Sabat, another activist.

The number of persons who tested positive for HIV in Orissa was 13,039 in April. Of them 1085 persons have been diagnosed as AIDS patients, while 868 have died of the disease, official sources said.

''Orissa will be the second state in the country after Kerala if the state government makes blood test of the bride and groom mandatory before marriage,'' Mishra said.

''It will not only enable a happy married life for the couple but also help in making the society AIDS-free,'' Sanjeet Patnaik, secretary of Sova, a Koraput-based NGO said.

Apart from AIDS, the compulsory blood test would also test other deadly diseases like thalassaemia and sickle cell anaemia, Patnaik said.

There are over 500 thalassaemic children in the state, the sources said.

Thalassaemia and sickle cell anaemia diseases are prevalent in the tribal dominated districts of Koraput and Kalahandi, while 35 per cent of the total AIDS cases in the state are found in Ganjam district.

Health experts said though many people may be healthy, they could be carriers of thalassaemia and sicke-cell anaemia. While they do not suffer from it, the hazardous strains in their blood get transmitted to their siblings who develop the disease.