Free testing service for sickle cell disease in newborns has been launched at Bheri Hospital using state-of-the-art international-standard machines.
Free sickle cell screening for newborns has begun at Bheri Hospital in Banke.
According to the hospital's chief consultant physician and sickle cell expert, Prada Rajan Pandey; for the first time in Nepal, a free sickle cell disease testing service has been started at Bheri Hospital using an internationally advanced machine.
'With the installation of the new machine, the presence of sickle cell anemia can be confirmed by testing it free of charge within 24 hours of birth and within five days,' he said. 'Also, when the baby completes nine months and receives the first dose of measles-rubella vaccine, it can be further confirmed by testing it again to determine whether sickle cell, beta thalassemia and other hemoglobinopathies are present.
Until Shrawan 2073, there was no blood testing facility in Nepal to detect the presence of sickle cell anemia. For that, blood samples had to be sent to India.
