A SICKLE-SHAPED MALADY

A July 2021 paper published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research suggests that India has the second highest prevalence of Sickle Cell Anaemia (SCA) with around 20 million people affected by the genetically transmitted disorder.

- Rahul Noronha

Though official figures are unavailable, Madhya Pradesh is said to top the list among the states, so it was perhaps appropriate that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the SCA Elimination Mission on July 1 at Shahdol in the eastern part of the state. The mission hopes to eradicate the scourge of SCA by 2047, the 100th year of India's independence.

SCA is a blood disorder that impacts the red blood cells and is passed on from parents to children. A permanent cure has eluded medical science till now. The mission approaches this conundrum at two interacting levels: macro and micro. The first, here, denotes wide coverage: 17 states and 278 districts. Dr Sudam Khade, commissioner, MP health services, says, "In the absence of a national-level programme, individual states were tackling the disease on their own. Now, we will have additional funds and work on the eradication of SCA will proceed as per guidelines with greater inter-state cooperation. Work on both diagnosis and management will get an impetus."