TSCS, Fernandez Hospital team up for prenatal testing

The Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Society (TSCS) has partnered with Fernandez Hospital, Hyderabad, to launch prenatal diagnostic testing for couples identified as carriers of Thalassemia or Sickle Cell Anaemia.
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

The Thalassemia and Sickle Cell Society (TSCS) has partnered with Fernandez Hospital to launch prenatal diagnostic testing for couples identified as carriers of Thalassemia or Sickle Cell Anaemia. The testing will be offered at the Prenatal Diagnostic Centre at Kamala Hospital and Research Centre, a unit of TSCS in Hyderabad.

This initiative is part of TSCS’s broader goal to eliminate births of children with Thalassemia Major and Sickle Cell Anaemia by 2035. The society’s ongoing antenatal screening programme identifies carrier couples early in pregnancy. If both partners are carriers, there is a 25% risk in each pregnancy that their child will be affected. The new facility will allow for early prenatal diagnostic testing in such cases, enabling timely decisions for at-risk families, said a release.