KEY POINTS:

• India has the second-highest burden of genetic blood disorder after Nigeria.
• Tribal populations are the worst hit with this disease in India.
• Children Before reaching the age of two, 20% of tribal children with sickle cell disease die, and 30% of children die before reaching adulthood.
• As per doctors, there may be 18 million Sickle Cell Traits (SCT) and 1.4 million SCD patients among the tribal population.
• According to officials, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs is also working on a road map for the management, control and eradication of Sickle Cell disease.
• The action plan will be implemented in coordination with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, State Governments, Organizations working on SCD and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO).
• The disease have a higher prevalence in Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Rajasthan which is referred to as the sickle cell belt.
• This condition is most common in tribal communities in India but is gradually finding its way throughout because of migration into the cities.
• The Tribal Ministry would support the initiative of Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) on research on CRISPER -technology involving gene-editing after consultation with the Department of Science and Technology, ICMR, and Union Health Ministry.
• Social stigma and ignorance around the Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) continue to remain a public health challenge in India.