Sickle cell screening meets only 1% of target

Subject : Science and technology

Section: Health

Concept :

Under the National Health Mission, Government of India supports the states for prevention and management of sickle cell disease as per their annual performance improvement plans proposals.
The Union Health Ministry has also released technical operational guidelines for prevention and control of hemoglobinopathies in 2016 including sickle cell anaemia.
Further in terms of treatment, support is given under NHM for capsule hydroxyurea, free blood transfusion for all Sickle cell patients (men & women) as per State’s proposal.
In the union budget of FY 2023-24, it is announced to launch a mission to eliminate sickle cell anaemia by 2047.
The mission entails focus on awareness creation, universal screening of approximately seven crore people in the 0-40 years age group in affected tribal areas and counselling through collaborative efforts of central ministries and state governments.
However, the Health Ministry has completed a minuscule 1% of its ambitious target to scan one crore people for sickle cell disease in 2022-23.
The target set for 2022-23 was to screen one crore people. However, only 1,05,954 people have been screened so far, out of which 5,959 people (5.62%) were found to be carrying the traits.

Sickle cell disease:

Sickle cell disease is a chronic genetic disorder in which the red blood cells of the patient turn into sickle-shaped crescents, become rigid and sticky, and get clogged in the blood vessels.
It causes a debilitating systemic syndrome characterized by chronic anaemia, acute painful episodes, organ infarction and chronic organ damage and by a significant reduction in life expectancy.
For Further Notes on Sickle Cell Disease, refer – https://optimizeias.com/sickle-cell-disease-scd-2/