Abu Dhabi: A team of medical officers led by a Malayali doctor successfully undertook a crucial surgery in the treatment of Sickle Cell Disease in UAE. Kannur native Dr Zainul Abid guided the surgery of a five-year-old girl from Uganda. The stem cells of bone marrow for the girl who was affected by the Sickle Cell Disease were transplanted from her ten-year-old sister.

A team of specialist doctors and a paediatric intensive care unit from Burjeel Medical City in Abu Dhabi were also part of the surgery.

The disease, which is also called sickle cell anaemia, affects the shape of the red blood cells and slows down the blood flow. Anaemia, severe pain, swelling of hands and feet, infections, delayed growth and puberty and problems in vision are the major symptoms of this disease.

In Kerala, the disease has been reported in Wayanad.