By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Dehradun, 29 Apr: The ‘Himalayan Society of Thalassemics, Dehradun’ organised a free medical checkup and HLA Typing camp on 27 April at SS Jena Base Hospital, Haldwani, and 28 April at Pt Deendayal Upadhyaya Government Hospital (Coronation Hospital), here, during which Dr VP Chaudhary, former Professor & Head, Department of Hematology, AIIMS, Delhi, Medical Advisor, NTWS, examined the patients and explained to the parents about ideal management of Thalassemia. He also explained how, by proper transfusion and chelation, a Thalassemic patient can lead a normal life.
The patients were told to keep HB levels of 10 g/dl + and ferritin levels of around 1000 ng/ml by Dr Chaudhary. Rajat Agarwal from Sankalp India Foundation, Bangalore, explained to parents the process of HLA typing and how it leads to the parents exploring the possibility of bone marrow transplant, after which Thalassemics can have a transfusion free life. About 50 patients were checked in Haldwani and 40 patients were checked in Dehradun by Dr Chaudhary and advised on medication and required tests. Dr Chaudhary and Rajat were helped by DEIC Staff and volunteers of Himalayan Society at, both, Haldwani and Dehradun.
The camps lasted for about 5 hours, each, and people from all over Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh attended. Rajat Agarwal did HLA typing of about 25 families free of cost. The following people participated in the camps – DEIC Haldwani: Dr Panchpal, Dr IP Arora, Dr Ajit Agarwal, Dr Anil Shah, Mohan Singh, Lalit Mohan, Mukesh Kumar, Birander Rawat, SN Kanchan Pant, SN Champa Chopal; DEIC Dehradun: Dr Kavita Juneja, SN Pushplata; Himalayan Society of Thalassemics: Puneet Kaura, MH Kazi, Naveen Goyal, Dr Rachna Kaura, Vineet Jain, Anjana Yadav and Himani Dhaundiyal.
