A Name for Pain
How Screening for Non- Communicable Diseases is Improving Lives in Chhattisgarh
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April 2025 | Jashpur, Chhattisgarh - Twelve-year-old Kanchan Minj had never known what it felt like to be truly well. She lives with her family in a small village bordering the states of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. “Since she was three, Kanchan would have a near constant fever” her father recalls. “Taking the medicine would make her feel better for a little while, but the fever would always come back.”
For years, her family struggled to understand the cause of her illness. When her condition worsened, she began needing blood transfusions every month.
Kanchan’s father, Jaggath, a daily wage labourer, would donate his own blood in exchange for the units she needed.
“It was hard. Taking time off work meant losing money. But what choice did I have?” he says.
Just a few hours away in Jashpur, eight-year-old Pritesh Naik had been suffering in the same way — mysterious, stabbing pain in his limbs, unexplained fatigue, and nights of crying had left him and his parents distraught.
“We would keep checking for bruises, wondering if Pritesh had hurt himself, or worse, been hurt by someone," recalls his father Jaggath. “How could a little child be plagued so by body ache?”
What the two children and their families didn’t know then was that Kanchan and Pritesh had sickle cell disease, an inherited blood disorder that can lead to debilitating pain, infections, and in severe cases, organ damage.
Knowing the Enemy
“Most people have never even heard of sickle cell disease,” says Dr. Laxmikant Aapat, District Nodal Health Officer at Jashpur. “We needed families in the district to know what to look for, and that treatment was not only possible — it was free.”
In April 2024, UNICEF catalyzed a partnership between the District Health Department, the local organization SANGWARI and the Government Medical College at Ambikapur towards effectively tackling sickle cell disease.
“With UNICEF’s support, we were able to design targeted awareness campaigns, train health workers, and develop materials to help doctors identify and manage cases early,” says Dr. Laxmikant Aapat, who leads NCD activities in the district.
Extensive door-to-door campaigns for screening were done. During these screenings, a high dropout rate for patients was noticed – and quickly addressed. With locally designed IEC for awareness, Sangwari health workers helped follow up with patients, so that more than 70 per cent of patients stayed on treatment. Student volunteers pitched in with preliminary solubility tests, while community health workers were given tools and training to manage symptoms, counsel families, and overcome hesitations. UNICEF extends supervisory support and reviews the activities in the field.
“When he was diagnosed with sickle cell disease at the NCD screening, it was painful to accept,” says Pritesh’s father. “But it was also a relief. Now that we knew the reason for his pain, we could finally do something about it.”
With regular medication and a proper diet, Pritesh is now thriving. Since the diagnosis, the Naik family has also become vocal advocates for testing and awareness – Pritesh’s parents encouraged their family and friends to get tested too, and discovered that his aunt, his mother’s sister, shared his illness. She was promptly registered at the hospital and is now undergoing treatment.
Kanchan’s diagnosis too has brought relief to her and her family – once registered at the district hospital, she began receiving regular and free medication and hasn’t needed a transfusion in over a year.
“Kanchan not only goes to school now, but also plays with her friends. She even keeps track of and takes her own medication on time,” says Jaggath Minj, proudly.
In Jashpur district, despite the challenges — limited medical staff, irregular duty hours, and lack of diagnostic facilities like CT scans — NCDs and cancer screenings, blood pressure camps, and regular training for frontline workers continue across the district.
UNICEF works with partners to improve non-communicable disease management, supporting progress, making sure results are on track, and always looking for ways to raise the quality of care.
Both Kanchan and Pritesh are a testament to what can be achieved when communities, governments, and global partners work together with compassion and purpose.
