Union Budget 2023 for the health sector has some impact-producing features like sickle cell anaemia eradication, attaching nursing colleges to medical colleges, apart from laying focus on Artificial Intelligence. While presenting the Budget in the Parliament on Wednesday, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that the government will roll out a programme in a mission mode to eliminate sickle cell anaemia by 2047.

What is this sickle cell disease (SCD)? And is there a reason to worry? Yes, there is.

If reports are anything to go by, there are more than 20 million patients living with sickle cell disease in India. This undoubtedly poses a considerable burden on the health sector.

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a common blood disorder that affects the haemoglobin, the protein that carries oxygen through the body. The red blood cells which usually are disc-shaped and flexible to move easily through the blood vessels, become sickle-shaped and as a result it blocks blood flow and oxygen supply to different parts of the body. The blockage may lead to serious problems like stroke, eye ailments, infections, and severe body pain. Apart from this, sickle cell anaemia also restricts body to produce blood, which then leads to severe blood shortage in the body and other consequent disorders.

How is Odisha coping with the disease?

The disease burden is considerably high in Odisha. A report in the pre-pandemic phase revealed how despite registering a large number of severe anaemia cases, Odisha government failed to utilize nearly 60% of the total funds released under State programme implementation plan for anaemia control.

Let’s dig deeper into the anaemia status in Odisha over the past few years. A report of the India Health of the Nation's States in 2017 had classified iron-deficiency led anaemia as the top cause of years lived with disability among females in Odisha. The Coalition for Food and Nutrition Security report published in November 2019 revealed 41.5% of adolescent girls and 18.3% of boys in the category were suffering from Anaemia in Odisha.

The data generated under National Family Health Survey-5 for Odisha in 2021 had even more shocking findings. The report mentioned that anaemia in children and women had worsened in comparison to what it was five years back in 2015-16. The survey report mentioned that anaemia cases in children in the age of 6-59 months were up from 44.6% to 64.2%. For women in the age group of 15-49 years, cases were up from 51.2% to 64.4%. For pregnant women in the same age group, the figures had jumped from 47.6% to 61.8%.

Amid the rising concerns, Odisha government last year launched AMLAN initiative (Anaemia Mukta Lakhya Abhiyan) implementing national and global practices with an aim to make the state anaemia-free. The State government claims that the programme which was rolled out in 55000 Govt, Govt-Aided Schools, and 74000 Anganwadi Centres, is likely to benefit about 1.37 crore people including pregnant women, lactating mothers and children.

Meanwhile, experts have said that Centre’s mission to eliminate sickle cell anaemia by 2047 with entailing awareness creation and universal screening of 7 crore people is most welcome step. There is a lack of awareness on sickle cell disease resulting in high disease burden in various parts of the country. They said spreading awareness about this disabling disease is the need of the hour for the country.