Poverty, Government apathy and Covid-19 induced-lockdown restricting travel proved fatal for little Kishan, a 11-year-old boy suffering from Aplastic anemia, a life-threatening blood disorder condition  in which the bone marrow and stem cells do not produce enough blood cells

Facing severe financial constraints and waiting timely medical aid, first at Safdarjung Hospital and then AIIMS, both Government hospitals in Delhi, Kishan’s life was cut short in March this year amid Covid-19 pandemic.

However, Kishan’s is not a lone case. Dr Nita Radhakrishnan, paediatric haemato-oncologist at Super Speciality Paediatric Hospital, Noida, Uttar Pradesh says that as the deadly Coronavirus captured the attention of the nation in the most unprecedented manner, the non-Covid patients particularly those with the Aplastic anemia have suffered the most in the crisis.

She gave instances of her two teenage patients who succumbed to blood disorder in the Covid catastrophe. “Manish (name change), a 17-year-old  was suffering with on-and-off fever, gum bleeding, and melena for three months, he came to us in December last year just when Coronavirus had started spreading its tentacles from China to other parts of the world.”

The boy was diagnosed with severe Aplastic anemia and was recommended requisite treatment like regular hospital visit for red cell transfusion before he could be given bone marrow transplant (BMT), a life saving treatment.

“However, while the family was not able to visit our hospital in Noida due to the covid-lockdown, no blood products were available at the hospital near to the patient’s locality. In want of blood, Manish could not survive more days.

13-year-old  Suresh (name change) too faced similar fate. While Government funds could not be sanctioned for his BMT in time  the boy could not visit the Noida hospital for further follow-up due to travel restrictions. Two weeks later, Suresh died due to hemorrhage at his native place, lamented the doctor.

These are just two reported cases from the NCR hospital located near the country’s capital. Several have gone unreported. The Government has no policy nor any long-term plan for such patients.

“The prognosis of severe aplastic anemia in our country is dismal. The incidence of 4–6 per million population of childhood aplastic anemia in India and other Asian countries is higher than what is observed in the West,” explains Dr Radhakrishnan. The scenario is gloomy for the patients afflicted with the disease as they need blood transfusion almost every 20 days.

A significant proportion of patients of aplastic anemia (around 30 per cent) die before any definitive treatment is initiated. A study by AIIMS based on a recent series of patients follow-up showed that out of 1501 patients diagnosed over last seven years, only 303 ie 20 per cent received the definitive treatment modalities through either BMT or IST with ATG and cyclosporine, says Dr Radhakrishnan in her case report “Aplastic anemia: Non-COVID casualties in the Covid-19 era,” published in the latest edition of Indian Journal of Palliative Care.

The doctors have sought urgent intervention. Dr Radhakrishnan says that “as we await the peak of Covid-19 in our country and possibly secondary and tertiary waves thereafter, patients with aplastic anemia who are the sickest among all hematological illnesses would benefit greatly from urgent intervention from the Government to ensure timely treatment.”

“Those suffering with Aplastic anemia, there is mostly delay in diagnosis, delay in initiation of treatment due to monetary constraints, non-inclusion of the disease under government schemes such as Ayushman Bharat and NHM and delay in sanction of money from other Government schemes such as Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi, Chief Minister and Prime Minister’s relief fund often due to lack of proper documents, she added.

Delay means, risk of contracting fungal infections and increase in drug-resistant bacterial infections increase which further hamper the treatment, point out Dr Ravi Shankar and Dr Savitri Singh in the study.

Though the Union Health Ministry, after few days of lockdown period, issued directions for continuing treatment for essential health services including reproductive and maternal health services, newborn care, severe malnutrition, and NCDs including cancer care, palliative care, dialysis, and care of disabled, unfortunately those with Aplastic anemia got ignored.

This despite of the fact that these patients are at the highest risk of death following a break in the treatment of few weeks, notes Dr Radhakrishnan.

Because of the closure of offices and absence of staff, during the lockdown period, there was delay in sanction of usual grants due to the lockdown of offices and inability in generating documents such as income certificate from the tehsils.

“For instance, Suresh and Manish, both our patients received the Government grant after around 3–4 months of applying for the same. But both had died before they could reach the hospital for treatment,” lamented the hematologist.