On 3rd December 2017, Department of Pediatrics, Rural Development Trust, Ananthpur organised the 1st CME on Thalassemia. Attended by pediatricians from Ananthpur and nearby districts, the event was very well received and productive.
The team at Rural Development Trust is doing exceptional work in ensuring that world class protocol driven care for thalassemia is made available to the patients in rural areas. Be it blood transfusions, investigations, chelation therapy or transplants, team RDT makes the impossible happen. The aim of this CME was to raise awareness about blood disorders and ensure that early detection and proper management reaches all the patients.
Dr Raviteja introduced the audience to the program for thalassemia at RDT. Dr Dhanyalakhsmi from the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics spoke about the preventive strategies. Dr Suman Jain from Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Society spoke about the role of blood transfusion medicine in thalassemia care. Dr Raghavaiah from RDT spoke about the essentials of thalassemia management.
Dr V P Choudhury, Former Professor & Head Department of Hematology, AIIMS, New Delhi spoke about preventing complications. With his exceptional ability to simplify complicated medical concepts and effective communication, he kept the audience deeply interested in the subject. Dr Choudhary was deeply impressed by the work which was being done. Dr Stalin Ramprakash, the Program Director of Sankalp-People Tree Centre for Pediatric BMT spoke about the diagnostic issues and curative options for thalassemia. Rajat Kumar Agarwal from team Sankalp spoke about patient centric delivery of care.
A key outcome of the CME and the discussion with Dr Sudheer Katumalla the Director of RDT Hospital, Bathalapalli, Dr Dasarath Ramaiah the HOD Pediatrics and Team Sankalp was the decision to pilot screening of all pregnant women in Ananthpur for hemoglobinopathies. This is a major step forward in the direction of prevention.
We congratulate the management and team at RDT for the fantastic work they are doing. At Sankalp, we are very proud to be associated with such a committed and energetic team.