PREVALENCE OF ANAEMIA AND HAEMOGLOBINOPATHIES AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS OF RAJKOT, GUJARAT.

In India, major cause of anaemia is nutritional deficiencies which can be treated by medications. Haemoglobinopathies are the most common inherited red cell disorders world-wide. Most clinically significant haemoglobinopathies are inherited defects of the beta (β) globin chain of adult haemoglobin.Nutritional anaemia affects all age and sex groups in India. Iron deficiency anaemia is the most common micronutrientdeficiency in the world affecting more than 2 billion persons. The Present study is an attempt to assess the prevalence of anaemia and haemoglobinopathies among college students in order to sensitize the masses about its impacts. 650 college students in the age group of 16-28 years of Rajkot, Gujarat were the subjects of study. Haemoglobin estimation was performed by automated cell counter and observations were interpreted as per WHO criteria. The study showed that 17.69 % were affected with various grades of anaemia condition. 11.69% subjects being mildly anaemic and5.85% moderatelyanaemic while 0.15% suffered from severe anaemia. Various haemoglobinopathies were also studied by screening method ? NESTROFT and confirmed by HPLC method. Prevalence of Beta thalassaemia carrier was 3.54%. Beta-thalassemia continues to be a cause of significant burden tothe society particularly in the developing countries. Further studies with a large sample size are needed to draw out theexact proportion for prevalence of anaemia and haemoglobinopathies so that appropriate remedial measures can be taken.