OUR VIEWS - The Sickle Cell Unit
published: Thursday | June 1, 2006

Left: Sickle Cell Unit.   Right: The Coulter MAXM apparatus gives a total blood count regarding red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.

THE SICKLE CELL UNIT at the Tropical Medicine Research Institute (TMRI) engages in neo-natal testing at the University Hospital (UHWI) of the West Indies, Kingston Public Hospital and Victoria-Jubilee Hospital. Umbilical cord blood is screened for the sickle cell disease at the Tropical Medicine Research Unit (TRMU) Lab at the UHWI, and the babies born, testing positive for sickle cell disease, are brought in to the TMRI for care. This screening only accounts for a third of the babies born islandwide.

The remaining two-thirds of babies born are accredited to delivery in private hospitals, home births and midwifery. These children can be tested for sickle cell at any clinic at the request of the parents.

At the Tropical Medicine Research Institute, regular blood testing of patients is done daily in the lab. The Coulter MAXM apparatus gives a total blood count regarding red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.