NATIONAL SICKLE CELL ELIMINATION MISSION

Why in news?: 

The PM will launch (today) the ‘National Sickle Cell Elimination Mission’ with theaim to eliminate sickle cell disease as a public health problem by 2047.

Place of Announcement:

The mission announced in the Union Budget 2023 will be launched from a public programme in Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh.

MP is a state with the highest tribal population in terms of absolute numbers as per Census 2011 and also has the highest burden of sickle cell anaemia.

What is Sickle Cell Anaemia (SCA)?:

It is a lifetime genetic blood disease

When a person has SCA, his haemoglobin becomes defective, which makes the red blood cells hard and sticky, giving them the appearance of the C-shaped farm implement known as a 'sickle.'

It iscommon in the tribal population of India but occurs in non-tribals too.

It not only causes anaemia but also pain crises, reduced growth, and affects many organs like lungs, heart, kidneys, eyes, bones and the brain.

Implementation of Mission:

The mission will be implemented in 278 districts of 17 states in India, viz., namely Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal etc. 

It focus on awareness creation, universal screening of approximately seven crore people in the 0-40 years age group in affected tribal areas and counseling them.

India’s Status on SCA:

India has the second-highest global prevalence of Sickle Cell Disease

India has the largest density of tribal population [Census 2011: Tribal population – 8.6% of the total population of India/ 67.8 million].

It is one of the 10 special problems in tribal health that affect the tribal people disproportionately, thus making intervention necessary.

Symptoms of SCA: Anaemia, in which RBCs expire within 10 to 20 days while being expected, is one of the indications of this illness.

Due to harm of spleen and making people more susceptible to infections, people may have swelling in their hands and feet