5. GENETIC COUNSELOR
A genetic counselor is perhaps the most important support pillar for patients and their families. They are healthcare professionals who help patients to interpret results of genetic tests and negotiate decisions about reproduction and treatment. They not only impart awareness of the disease but also provide strength emotionally, psychologically, and in social behavior. They provide proper information regarding marriages and also give guidance to the ANC and PNC patients. As the availability of genetic counselor is not possible in every health care center, so training should be imparted to all the available health staff such as doctors, nurses, counselors for counseling patients with genetic diseases. The goal of genetic counseling is to help people make thoughtful, informed and balanced decisions about having children by educating them on how hereditary succession can affect the likelihood that certain genetic diseases, like SCD, will develop or recur in the future.20