SCB Medical College Gets Odisha’s First Sickle Cell Competence Centre

09 Sep 2026, 09:39 by Vinay Kakkad · KalingaTV

Kataka: Odisha has opened its first Centre of Competence (CoC) for sickle cell disease at SCB Medical College and Hospital, bringing advanced genetic testing and dedicated day-care services under one roof as the state steps up efforts to tackle inherited blood disorders.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Mukesh Mahaling inaugurated the centre on Tuesday. Set up under the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission (NSCAEM), the facility has been established at a cost of Rs 3.90 crore, with funding approved by the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs.

The new centre is part of a wider effort to improve the early diagnosis and treatment of sickle cell disease, thalassemia and other genetic haemoglobin disorders in Odisha.

Advanced testing facilities introduced at SCB

SCB has introduced two specialised technologies alongside the new competence centre — Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and Automated Capillary Zone Electrophoresis for newborn screening.

Officials said both facilities are the first of their kind in Odisha and eastern India.

The NGS facility will allow doctors to examine genetic disorders at the molecular level. Its applications will extend beyond sickle cell disease and include thalassemia, haemophilia and cancer genomics.

The technology will also support prenatal diagnosis and help doctors confirm cases in which conventional screening produces doubtful or ambiguous results.

The automated capillary zone electrophoresis system, meanwhile, will strengthen newborn screening for genetic blood disorders and help identify affected children at an early stage.

Odisha has India’s highest sickle cell incidence

The expansion of diagnostic capacity assumes particular significance in Odisha, which has a substantial burden of genetic haemoglobin disorders.

As reported by The New Indian Express, Mahaling mentioned, around 15.6 per cent of Odisha’s population is affected by genetic haemoglobinopathies. He also said Odisha records the highest incidence of sickle cell disease among Indian states.

The minister said the new NGS facility would complement the existing high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) system used for screening. Molecular testing will be especially useful for prenatal diagnosis, resolving uncertain HPLC findings and strengthening the training and capacity of medical officers working at the field level.

More than 68 lakh people screened

The state has already expanded screening under the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission.

More than 68 lakh people have been screened so far. The exercise has identified over 1.07 lakh people with sickle cell disease and 6.11 lakh carriers, according to officials.

The government is now looking to expand the network of specialised care. Another Centre of Competence is planned at VIMSAR, Burla.

Mahaling said the broader objective is to eliminate sickle cell disease as a public health concern in Odisha by 2047.

SCB gets 20-bed model day-care centre

Alongside the competence centre, SCB has also added a 20-bed Model Day Care Centre for patients requiring specialised care for blood disorders.

The air-conditioned facility has been upgraded under the National Health Mission and is designed as a single-window service point. It brings registration, outpatient consultation, blood transfusion, specialised laboratory investigations, medicines and counselling together in one facility.

Dedicated day-care beds will also be available for transfusion and treatment, reducing the need for patients to move between different service points within the hospital.

State plans wider rollout

The government intends to use the SCB facility as a model for expanding specialised services across Odisha.

Officials said plans are underway to replicate the pilot model at district headquarters hospitals, which could extend access to advanced diagnosis and care beyond major medical institutions.

Rajya Sabha MP Debasish Samantaray, Choudwar-Kataka MLA Souvic Biswal, SCB MCH superintendent Prof Jyotish Chandra Choudhury, in-charge dean and principal Prof Saroj Kumar Tripathy, and Dr Sudha Sethy were present during the inauguration.