Newborn screening, early treatment can cut sickle cell anaemia mortality: ICMR study

Post-birth diagnosis resulting in early treatment can substantially improve the quality of life and reduce mortality in patients with sickle cell disease to less than five per cent from the reported 20-30 per cent, according to an ICMR study.

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As many as 63,536 newborns were tested over a five year period from 20192024 as part of the study on Newborn Screening for Sickle cell Disease conducted by the National Institute of Immunohaematology in Mumbai under the India Council of Medical Research (ICMR) across seven centres in high prevalence areas of India.

The study is yet to be published.

The newborn screening program helps find out if a baby is born with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD), a serious inherited blood disorder, soon after birth, explained Dr Manisha Madkaikar, Director of ICMRCentre for Research Management and Control of Haemoglobinopathies (CRHCM) in Nagpur.

"If not detected early, this disease can cause life-threatening problems like severe infections, anaemia (low blood levels), and even strokes in infants," she stressed.

"Finding the disease early can save lives by allowing doctors to start treatment before problems begin," Dr Prabhakar Kedar, Scientist F, ICMR-NIIH , who is the principal investigator of the study, said.