A significant milestone has been crossed by the Health Ministry. More than 1 crore people have been screened for Sickle Cell Disease under the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission.

The Mission endeavors to screen 7 crore population in 3 years. Sickle cell disease is a genetic blood disease which affects the whole life of the affected patient. It is more common in the tribal population of India but occurs in non-tribals too.

The National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission was launched on 1st July 2023 at Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh. The program is being carried out in a mission mode for screening, prevention, and management of sickle cell anemia in all tribal and other high prevalent areas States/UTs of India.

The focus is on 278 districts of 17 states with higher prevalence of SCD viz., Gujarat, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar and Uttarakhand.