Embassy of Sweden Hosts a Symposium on Technology Intervention to Screen and Treat Anemia

by Shrutee K/DNS

New Delhi, 30th November, 2016: Continuing with its commitment to eradicate Anemia through technological intervention, HemoCue, global leader in point of care (near the patient) testing, today organized a scientific symposium on the use of technology to screen and treat anemia at Embassy of Sweden, New Delhi. Dr. Ajay Khera, Deputy Commissioner, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare graced the event. The symposium witnessed the launch of HemoCue’s latest offering HemoCue® Health Trender anemia, an innovative anemia screening solution aimed at fighting and eradicating anemia.

Affecting over half of all Indian women, a fourth of all men, 79% of children aged 6–59 months and causing 20 per cent maternal deaths, anemia presents a formidable public health challenge. Seeing the magnitude of the problem, there is a dire need to take urgent stepsto ensure anemia is diagnosed in time and treatment measures instituted promptly.

Speakingat the event, Dr.Ajay Khera, Deputy Commissioner, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, emphasized on the need of technological interventions to support and strengthen government efforts to eradicate anemia. Hesays, “Anemia has become a burgeoning health concern notjust in India but across the world. The Government of India acknowledges the urgency of the situation and is committed to battle out the epidemic.”

He adds “While we are doing our best, we face for mid able challenge, especially vis-à-vis quick and reliable diagnosis of anemia.Technology-based interventions can deliver fast results interms of speedy and accurate screening as well as data collation”.

Early and accurate diagnosis can play a key role in improving treatment outcomes in anemia. Employing detection methods that are fast, accurate and reliable promises to be a significant step forward inmeeting the challenge anemia poses. Moreover, manual collation ofdata associated with these methods takes months and is error-prone,which in turn means that anemia management policies often have to bebased on either insufficient or unreliable data.

Talking about anemia screening, Bjorn Christ, President – HemoCue AB adds, “To diagnose anemia and make early crucial decisions related to managing anemia in patients and to monitor response to therapy, hemoglobin measurement remains the prime focus. And that is where HemoCue can make a difference with it’s technology enabled products. We have been able to achieve great results in other countries as well. Continuing with our mission of improving lives through innovation, we have developed HemoCue® Health Trender anemia, an innovative system that ensuresoptimal usage of resources to secure maximum outcome of healthcare program.”

"HemoCue Health Trender Anemia is an innovative device that when integrated with community health programs, especially in rural areas, can helpaddress the issues of delayed and incorrect diagnosis. We strongly believe that the real time data that it helps generate and analyze can be instrumental for decision makers to create policies around anemia management." adds Deepak Sharma, Regional Sales Director Asia Pacific, HemoCue.

Numbers reveal that the physical and cognitive losses due to iron deficiency anemia have a significant effect on the Gross Domestic Product –in some developing countries up to as much as 4 percent.

The Government of India is relentlessly involved in carrying out programs to fight anemia in developing countries. Many of the programs are executed by village clinics, healthcare centers and NGOs in rural areas under harsh conditions with limited access to electricity, pure water combined with a poor infrastructure.

Under these conditions it becomes virtually impossible to collect data, review, act or evaluate the programs in a timely and effective way; something that has been requested for a long time butnever adequately solved. HemoCue HealthTrender Anemia is acloud-based solution that can help overcome these challenges as it offers immediate insight using real-time data captured from the HemoCue Hb201+ Analyzer in the field. A stream of data over time, canhelp policy makers manoeuver the direction of programs and also facilitate consistent monitoring of hemoglobin levels in the target groups.

About HemoCue: Products from HemoCue - part of the Radiometer Group - are being used in more than 130 countries. Working with healthcare professionals within various clinical areas all over the world, HemoCue has developed apro found understanding of varying needs. With four HemoCue tests being performed each second worldwide, HemoCue point-of-care testing contributes to better healthcare, by providing the data you need, when and where you need it, to make accurate healthcare decisions quickly.