Context

• Recently, the country's Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has announced a medicine for the prevention of sickle cell disease.

Key Points

• This medicine has been manufactured by Acmes pharmaceutical company and its name is Hydroxyurea Oral Suspension which is India's first room temperature stable medicine for sickle cell disease.
• This disease affects the hemoglobin present in red blood cells which works to carry oxygen in the body. But if it does not work properly, the risk of diseases and death increases.
• Every person's blood contains red blood cells which are round in shape, flexible and soft. But when this disease occurs, it takes the shape of the English letter C and it creates blockage in the arteries.
• After this, sickle cells start dying due to which red blood cells start decreasing and this affects the oxygen available to the body. At the same time, people in tribal dominated areas of India suffer from this disease more.
• It has also been found in many researches that the cases of sickle cell anemia are more in those residential areas where there is a problem of malaria.

Sickle Cell Disease

• SCD is a group of hereditary red blood cell disorders. In this disease, there is an anomaly in hemoglobin.
•  Hemoglobin is a protein found in red blood cells, which transports oxygen.
• In SCD the red blood cells become hard and sticky and look like a C-shaped agricultural tool called a "sickle."
• This disease affects the entire life of the patient.
• It not only causes anemia but also causes pain, reduced growth and affects multiple organs like lungs, heart, kidneys, eyes, bones and brain.

Symptoms of sickle cell disease

• It causes fatigue, weakness and paleness in the body.
• It can suddenly cause unbearable pain in bones, chest, back, arms and legs.
• Delay in puberty and physical development.

Treatment

• Blood transfusions: These can help relieve anemia and reduce the risk of acute pain.
• Hydroxyurea: This medication can help reduce the frequency of persistent pain and control long-term complications of the disease.
• It can also be treated by bone marrow or stem cell transplantation.

Government initiatives to tackle SCD

• The government issued technical operational guidelines for the prevention and control of sickle cell anemia in 2016.
• State Hemoglobinopathy Mission has been established in Madhya Pradesh to address the challenges faced in diagnosis and management of the disease.
• Anemia Mukt Bharat strategy .

Eradication strategy by 2047

• Changing practices and identifying the disease early through screening.
• Preventing marital relations between victims or carriers of the disease so that children do not suffer.
• Treatment of other diseases of patients suffering from this disease.
• Development and expansion of testing facilities, so that the disease can be detected early.
• Linking patients to social security schemes.
• Conversation and consultation with students in tribal area schools
• National Child Health Program

Madhya Pradesh as a model

• Madhya Pradesh has, in many respects, become a role model for the entire country in the program to eradicate sickle cell anemia disease found mainly in tribals.
• The experiments conducted here have also been adopted by other states, which also include the genetic counseling card.
• The portal created here is now being used across the country.
• So far, 29 lakh people have been screened in Madhya Pradesh, out of which 12 thousand positive and more than 50 thousand carriers have been found.
• Even in the matter of screening on such a large scale, Madhya Pradesh is at number one in the country.
• All people under 40 years of age, pregnant women and family members suffering from the disease are to be tested within three years. Their number is approximately 1.25 crores.
• It is noteworthy that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the mission from Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh on July 1, 2023, taking a pledge to eradicate sickle cell anemia from the country by the year 2047.
• Now all the tribal dominated states have joined in this.

Important Facts For Exam

• Note: World Sickle Cell Awareness Day is celebrated every year on 19 June.