PM Modi launches sickle cell anemia eradication mission

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched a national sickle cell anaemia elimination mission aiming to screen more than seven crore young tribals so that the debilitating disease can be detected early and managed with therapies.

The mission, announced in the Union budget earlier this year, will focus on awareness creation and universal screening of people in the 0-40 years age group in tribal areas in 278 districts in 17 states. The government plans to eliminate the disease by 2047.

“The impact of a disease is not felt by the patient alone, but by the whole family. The mission combines both screening and awareness strategies to ensure early detection and treatment while making people aware that they suffer from such a disease, and may unintentionally transfer it to the next generation," the Prime Minister said, launching the mission at an event in poll-bound Madhya Pradesh.

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The mission was launched ahead of the assembly polls in MP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan – states with a significant tribal population that accounts for most of the cases.

As India accounts for more than 50 per cent of the global sickle cell anaemia cases, the disease is a cause of public health concerns in central Indian states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Jharkhand and Gujarat.

Other states that will be covered in the mission are Maharashtra, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, and Uttarakhand.

The mission comes two years after a pilot project for screening that began in Jhabua and Alirajpur districts and later extended to another 89 tribal blocks. It led to examination of 9,93,114 persons, of whom 18,866 have been detected with the sickle cell trait and 1506 with the disease.

A previous survey carried out by the Indian Council of Medical Research and Department of Biotechnology in multiple states led to the screening of 1,13,83,664 individuals, of which about 8.75 per cent (9,96,368) tested positive (trait: 949057, disease: 47311)

Sickle cell anaemia is a genetic disease that leads to formation of crescent shaped red blood cells, causing a debilitating syndrome characterised by chronic anaemia, acute painful episodes, organ damage and a significant reduction in life expectancy.

While bone marrow transplantation is the only cure, there are medications available to relieve pain, reduce complications and improve the quality of life.

Distributing sickle cell genetic status cards to the beneficiaries, Modi said such a mission would save the lives of 2.5 lakh children and families that were affected by the disease. The Madhya Pradesh government has established integrated centres for haemophilia and hemoglobinopathies in 22 tribal districts for treatment and diagnosis of patients.