During a public meeting in Maharashtra’s tribal district of Nandurbar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi underscored his party’s commitment to eliminating sickle cell anemia nationwide.

“Congress has never cared for tribal brothers and sisters. Sickle cell anemia is a big threat in tribal areas. But Congress didn’t pay much attention to this disease. It is the BJP that has launched a campaign to eradicate sickle cell anemia from the root. So that no poor person is malnourished, we have also been concerned about this,” said PM Modi.

Having spent a long time among the tribal communities in different parts of the country over the past many decades, PM Modi has stated earlier that the tribal society is “not just a government statistic” but a “matter of empathy and emotional concern” for the BJP. It is also not for the first time that Prime Minister Modi was highlighting his strong resolve to eliminate the genetic blood disease which is more common in the tribal population of India and affects the lives of over 2.5 lakh children and their families each year.

Pioneering Sickle Cell Anemia Elimination Mission

Last July, while launching the Sickle Cell Anemia Elimination Mission, he made it clear that the campaign for freedom from the hereditary disease – “which was not even an issue for the previous governments due to their indifference towards the tribal society” – will become the main mission of the ‘Amrit Kaal’.The government led by him, PM Modi assured, is working in a “mission mode” to liberate the tribal families – and the entire country – from Sickle Cell Anemia by 2047 when the nation celebrates 100 years of independence.

This is being done by increasing the number of blood banks for patients requiring blood transfusions and opening new facilities for bone marrow transplantations. PM Modi’s deep understanding of the debilitating impact that Sickle Cell Anemia has on the human body comes from intense interactions he had not just with the tribal communities but also world’s leading experts since long before he became the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

“Even after I became the Chief Minister of Gujarat, I started many campaigns in this regard. When I visited Japan after becoming the Prime Minister, I met a Nobel laureate scientist there. I came to know that he had done a lot of research on sickle cell disease. I also sought his assistance in finding a cure for sickle cell anemia,” he said, last year.

PM Modi was referring to his 2014 meeting with Japan’s stem cell pioneer and 2012 Nobel Prize winner Shinya Yamanaka at the Centre for iPS Cell Research and Application in Kyoto during which he expressed concern over the prevalence of sickle cell anemia among tribal communities across India. PM Modi and the top BJP leadership have also been mentioning about the government working tirelessly to eradicate many other serious diseases since coming to power in 2014. This includes working towards completely eliminating tuberculosis by 2025 and making sure that cases of Kala-azar, malaria, leprosy and meningitis reduce by a significant number.