Archive · 26 Jul 2025
India's Mission: Hope Floats for Sickle Cell Anaemia Patients
Sickle cell disease is a blood disorder that mainly affects people in certain parts of India.
The government wants to stop this disease and is planning to test 70 million people to find out who has it.
New, cheap tests are being developed that can quickly tell if someone has the disease or carries the gene for it.
The government hopes that these tests will help people learn about the disease and get the help they need.
This plan is focused on areas where the disease is most common, like tribal regions.
India is aiming to eradicate sickle cell disease (SCD) by 2047 and screen 70 million people.
The ICMR is developing new, affordable point-of-care (POC) test kits for SCD screening.
These test kits will cost around Rs 50 per test and provide results within minutes.
SCD disproportionately affects tribal populations, with approximately 67.8 million in tribal regions.
The government launched the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission (NSCAEM) in 2023 to address SCD.
- Who
- The Indian government, through the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the ICMR, is leading the effort.
- What
- The government is advancing efforts to eliminate sickle cell disease (SCD) in India.
- When
- The National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission (NSCAEM) was launched in 2023.
- Where
- The NSCAEM focuses on 278 districts across 17 states in India, particularly in tribal regions.
- Why
- To eradicate sickle cell disease (SCD) and improve health outcomes for affected populations, especially in tribal communities.
- Mission Goal
- Eradicate SCD by 2047
- Target Screening
- 70 million people by next year
- New Test Cost
- Rs 50 per test
- Test Result Time
- Minutes
- People Screened (as of July 2024)
- Over 60,353,940
- SCD Cases Found (as of July 2024)
- 215,913
- SCD Trait Found (as of July 2024)
- 16,86,628