Rajasthan govt steps up efforts to tackle sickle cell anaemia in tribal areas; over 37 lakh screened

Jaipur: The Rajasthan government has stepped up efforts to tackle sickle cell anaemia in tribal regions, screening more than 37 lakh people and strengthening systems from early detection to treatment and follow-up, an official statement said on Wednesday.

The initiative, being carried out in line with the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission-2047, aims to build a comprehensive healthcare mechanism covering screening, timely treatment, vaccination, counselling and awareness.

Chief Minister Bhajanlal Sharma said the state is working in a mission mode to address the genetic disorder in tribal-dominated areas.


"In line with the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission-2047, the Rajasthan government aims to build a strong health security system in tribal regions to combat the disease and protect future generations from its adverse effects," he said.

According to the statement, the state had set a target to screen around 37.50 lakh people in tribal areas, against which 37.02 lakh individuals have already been screened, achieving 98.72 per cent of the goal.

District-wise, the highest screenings were recorded in Udaipur (over 11.12 lakh), followed by Banswara (over 10.39 lakh), Dungarpur (over 8.02 lakh) and Pratapgarh (over 4.26 lakh).

The government said its strategy goes beyond identification of cases and focuses on eliminating the disease at its root through measures such as prenatal screening, family-level testing and community awareness.

"The effort is not limited to identifying the disease but to eliminate it at the root and ensure complete protection for future generations," the statement said.

As part of strengthening the treatment infrastructure, Udaipur has been developed as a 'Centre of Competence' for sickle cell disease, providing integrated services including diagnosis, newborn screening, vaccination, counselling and physiotherapy.

The centre has so far provided 6,160 OPD and 306 IPD services, identified 589 patients and around 3,000 carriers, and screened over 32,000 newborns, of whom 621 tested positive.

Additionally, 8,500 pregnant women have undergone ANC screening, with 500 cases detected as positive. The facility has also conducted thousands of counselling sessions and trained over 1,100 healthcare personnel.