Chief Minister Mr. Bhupesh Baghel laid the foundation stone
Patients from neighboring states will also benefit from the Center of Excellence
Sickle cell research will be done with free diagnosis and treatment
Raipur, 23 June 2023
Chief Minister Mr. Bhupesh Baghel today performed Bhumi Pujan of Center of Excellence of Sickle Cell Institute at Devendra Nagar Chowk Jail Road in capital Raipur. This institute will be done in 2.96 acres of land, which will cost Rs 48 crore 12 lakh. World class facilities will be available in this Center of Excellence. This initiative will be beneficial not only for the people of the state but also for the bordering states.
Addressing the program, Chief Minister Mr. Bhupesh Baghel said that in the last four and a half years, unprecedented works were done in the health department. People have got facilities for health check-up through Haat Bazar and other means in the city. Malaria-free Bastar campaign and later Malaria-free Chhattisgarh campaign was launched, due to which malaria has decreased by 65 percent. Sickle cell affects about 10 percent of the population of Chhattisgarh. This is a huge figure, therefore it is also a big challenge. To meet this challenge, our government is continuously working with commitment. The state’s Sickle Cell Institute will be upgraded as a center of excellence, facilities will increase and research work will speed up. Along with treatment, awareness is also necessary for the prevention of sickle cell. If the right treatment of the patient is started on time, medicines should be made available to them on time, So their physical side effects can be minimized. They too can live a long life. For this, it is most important that the disease is identified on time. Necessary counseling can be given to persons with sickle cell’s genetic trait prior to identification, so that the spread of this disease can also be reduced.
Presently sickle cell institute is providing facility of examination, consultation, treatment and medicines to sickle cell patients free of cost. From October 2022, sickle cell test and counseling centers have been started in all the district hospitals and government medical colleges of the state. Now it is being extended to the lower level as well. At the development block level, the work of setting up testing and counseling centers in community health centers has started. After this it will be expanded to primary health centers as well. Sickle cell patients will be identified at the village level through Mitanins and then treatment will be provided to them.
The program was presided over by Health Minister Shri T.S. Singh did Urban Administration Minister Dr. Shivkumar Dahria, Chhattisgarh Housing Board Chairman Mr. Kuldeep Juneja, Raipur District Panchayat President Mrs. Domeshwari Verma, former MP Mr. Nandkumar Sai Padmashree Dr. A.T.K. Dabke, Director General Sickle Cell Dr. Usha Joshi, Dean Dr. Tripti Nagaria, Commissioner Medical Education Mohd. Qaiser Abdul Haque were present.
Health Minister Shri T.S. Singhdev told that in 2.96 acres of land, Sickle Cell Institute Ch. Raipur is being upgraded as a Center of Excellence. Which will be constructed at a cost of Rs 48 crore, in which all kinds of modern facilities will be available keeping in mind the interest of the patients in the coming times. There will be a facility of 100 beds. In which emergency medicine, OT, ICU, OPD, male ward and female ward and kids ward are being constructed. The institute will also have a research lab building, which will have different types of labs for genetic level research, so that research related to the treatment of this disease can be done.
An auditorium with a capacity of 250 persons and a recreational block are also being constructed in the institute, so that children suffering from sickle cell can be entertained. A canteen is being constructed in this building, so that the relatives accompanying the patient from far off places can get food from the canteen. Apart from this, a training block is also being constructed in the institute, in which training center, class room and accommodation will be available for the staff related to sickle cell. 24 flats are being constructed for doctors in the Naveen Bhavan campus, so that the doctor’s availability remains 24 hours.
