NATIONAL SICKLE CELL ELIMINATION MISSION - SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY
News: 7
crore people in tribal areas to be screened for sickle cell disease by 2025-26:
FM
What's in the news?
● Finance
Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced the National Sickle Cell Elimination
Mission with targeted screening and
intervention in tribal populations - set to be anchored by the Ministry of
Tribal Affairs and run by the Health Ministry under the aegis of the National
Health Mission (NHM).
National Sickle Cell Elimination Mission:
Aim:
● It
aims to eliminate sickle cell anaemia by
2047.
Administrative Control:
● The
Ministry of Health Affairs is the
nodal ministry to undertake the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Mission.
● The
programme will be anchored and coordinated by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs.
Features:
● It
will entail awareness creation,
universal screening of seven crore people in the age group of 0-40 years in
affected tribal areas, and counselling through collaborative efforts of Central
Ministries and State governments.
● The
screening exercise kicked off last year (2022-23) and aimed to cover one crore
people for the year 2023.
● Beginning
2024, the mission aims to cover two crore people each year till 2025-26.
● It
aims to set up prenatal diagnosis
facilities in over 18 States wherever gaps were being identified, in
collaboration with Indian Council of Medical Research laboratories.
● It
also plans to set up two Centers for
Excellence (advanced) in each of these States to set up diagnosis and
treatment facilities.
● The
NHM has estimated a cost of ₹542.5 crore for the entire screening exercise.
Go back to basics:
● Sickle
cell anaemia is an inherited disease,
meaning it runs from generation to generation.
● People
who have the disease inherit two faulty
genes - haemoglobin S, one from each parent.
● A
person who has sickle cell trait inherits only one faulty gene. People with
traits are generally healthy.
○ Haemoglobin
S changes flexible red blood cells into rigid sickle shaped cells, which can
block blood flow and lead to pain and organ damage.
● There
are approximately 15 lakh sickle cell-affected patients in the country,
according to NHM estimates.