CURRENT AFFAIRS

Detailed explanation-1: -The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare launched the second phase of “Thalassemia Bal Sewa Yojna” for the underprivileged Thalassemic patients.

Detailed explanation-2: -Aarogyasri is the flagship scheme of all health initiatives of the State Government with a mission to provide quality healthcare to the poor. The scheme provides financial protection to families living below poverty line with white card upto Rs. 2 lakhs in a year for the treatment of thalassemia affected children.

Detailed explanation-3: -Zynteglo is a one-time gene therapy product administered as a single dose. Each dose of Zynteglo is a customized treatment created using the patient’s own cells (bone marrow stem cells) that are genetically modified to produce functional beta-globin (a hemoglobin component).

Detailed explanation-4: -Penicillin V is the drug of choice (DOC) for prophylaxis in patients with thalassemia who have undergone a splenectomy (erythromycin is used in patients allergic to penicillin).

Detailed explanation-5: -With an estimated 42 million beta-thalassemia carriers and 10, 000 new cases reported each year, one in eight patients reside in India. The number also runs high in the paediatric population.