Distribution of Sickle Cell Disease Among Tribal Population of Nilgiri District of Tamil Nadu

Tribes are the integral part of our civilization. The scheduled tribal population of Tamilnadu was found to be 6.51 lakhs constituting 36 tribes which include six primitive tribal communities in Nilgiri district. Sickle cell anemia is one among and is a major health concern for the tribes in Nilgiri district whose control and cure are still under medical re- search. GIS is commonly used to combine spatial data from different sources, for mapping disease and for performing spatial analyses to identify the high risk areas. Hence, there is a need to map the prevalence of this gene (i.e.) its variation in different tribal groups and within tribal group that spread over a large area. This paper focuses to study the ethnic population in Nilgiris and the prevalence of SCD with relation to gender, age, disease pattern and community. The spatial variation of SCD based on taluk and village level are analysed using Geographical Information System (GIS) .Out of 55 village panchayats 33 villages are identified as infected with SCD in which female incidence was observed high when compared to male with carrier state.GIS mapping would help us to update information and to identify the trouble spots at the village level within the district and the policy makers to formulate the control strategy indentifying areas where greatest efforts should be focused. However, the disease impact in terms of speed of spread varies with demographic profile helps in also identifying the most exposed or effected tribe in the study area.