Chattoo, Sangeeta orcid.org/0000-0002-7689-9716 (2018) Inherited blood disorders, genetic risk and global public health: framing 'birth defects' as preventable in India. Anthropology & Medicine. pp. 30-49. ISSN 1469-2910
Abstract
This paper engages critically with the global assemblage framing sickle cell and thalassaemia disorders as a ‘global health crisis’; and the promise of genomics, largely DNA-based carrier/pre-conceptual screening, prenatal diagnosis with a view to terminations, deployed in framing a solution to these historically racialised spectrum of diseases as essentially preventable. Sickle cell and thalassaemia are recessively inherited, potentially life-threatening haemoglobin disorders with significant variation of severity, often needing life-long treatment. I argue that the re-classification of inherited blood disorders (IBDs) under ‘prevention and management of birth defects’ by the WHO in 2010 can be read as an ethical moment within the ‘globalising turn’ of IBDs and the use of genomics in addressing structural inequalities underpinning health in low- and middle-income countries. Using an Indian case study, the paper aims at first examining the language of risk through which genes and IBDs are mapped onto pre-existing populations (e.g. caste and tribe) as discrete, categories. Second, it discusses the likely social and ethical ramifications of classifying these recessive gene disorders as essentially preventable, despite cheaply available diagnostic tests and treatment options available in most countries in the South.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2018 The Author(s). |
Keywords: | India,Inherited blood disorders,genomics,global health,race/ethnicity |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Health Sciences (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 15 Mar 2018 17:20 |
Last Modified: | 08 Feb 2025 00:27 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1080/13648470.2017.1381231 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/13648470.2017.1381231 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:128603 |
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Description: Inherited blood disorders genetic risk and global public health framing birth defects as preventable in India