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Business Standard
10 hours ago
- Health
- Business Standard
Govt announces Rs 10-cr prize for new drug to treat sickle cell disease
The government on Thursday announced an award of Rs 10 crore to develop a drug for the treatment of sickle cell disease, which disproportionately affects India's tribal populations. Sickle cell disease is a group of inherited blood disorders that affect haemoglobin, causing red blood cells to become sickle-shaped and block the blood flow, which can lead to serious complications such as stroke, eye problems and infections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Eradication Mission on July 1, 2023, with the aim of eradicating the disease by 2047. The government aims to screen seven crore people up to 40 years of age as part of the mission. At an event to mark World Sickle Cell Day here, Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Durgadas Uikey announced the institution of the Bhagwan Birsa Munda Prize for the development of a drug to treat the disease. The minister said there is only one drug available as of now for the management of the disease. There is currently no option to select a drug from a range of alternatives based on the patient's body conditions and severity of the disease. He said this problem is worsened in special situations like pregnancy or the presence of other serious medical conditions. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a new drug. The tribal affairs ministry, in collaboration with the AIIMS-Delhi, will undertake a competition for the development of the drug. The selected proposal will be funded up to Rs 10 crore, Uikey said. He also said the ministry will establish a Centre for Tribal Health and Research Institute under the AIIMS-Delhi. This centre will also have outpatient and inpatient facilities for providing the highest-quality medical care to tribal people. Provisions for seamless referrals from peripheral hospitals in tribal-dominated areas will be explored, he said. The centre will also guide the government in policy formulation. The minister said a postgraduate course in tribal medicine will also be designed. This will help address the long-standing health inequities faced by tribal communities, who often remain underserved due to geographical, socio-cultural and systemic barriers, he said. This specialised course will be designed to develop a cadre of medical professionals with contextual knowledge, clinical skills and public health competencies tailored to tribal settings.
The Hindu
10 hours ago
- Health
- The Hindu
Centre plans to set up National Tribal Health and Research Institute under AIIMS, New Delhi
The Union government is planning to set up a National Tribal Health and Research Institute (NTHRI) under the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi and there are also plans to hold a competition for the development of drugs to manage Sickle Cell Disease, especially prevalent among certain tribal populations in the country. These announcements were made by Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Durgadas Uikey on Thursday (June 19, 2025) at an event to mark the World Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) Day at the AIIMS campus here. Mr. Uikey said the competition would be for the Bhagwan Birsa Munda Prize and the winning drug development project would get up to ₹10 crore in funding for taking the drug forward. At the event meant to mark awareness of SCD, government officials said the Ministry had sanctioned Centre of Competence (CoC) in 15 tertiary care hospitals, including AIIMS, which were meant to provide 'state-of-the-art diagnostics for and management of SCD, including ante-natal diagnosis.' Course in 'tribal medicine' Mr. Uikey said there was also a proposal to offer a postgraduate course in 'tribal medicine', which 'aims to address the long-standing health inequities faced by tribal communities'. The government, in its statement, said the 'specialised course' would be designed to develop a cadre of medical professionals with contextual knowledge, clinical skills and public health competencies 'tailored to tribal settings'. Ministry officials told The Hindu that the government's efforts to develop a gene therapy for treating SCD were 'progressing on the right path' and was in the trials stage for the time being. In a statement issued on Thursday (June 18, 2025), the Union government said there was only a single drug available for the management of SCD. 'There is currently no option to select a drug from a spectrum of drugs options for management of a patient, depending on his/her body conditions and severity of the disease.' 'This problem gets augmented in special situations such as pregnancy, other serious medical conditions etc. Therefore, there is an urgent need for the development of a new drug/s for the management of the disease,' it said on the announcement for the Bhagwan Birsa Munda Prize, adding that the competition for this drug development would be held by the Ministry in collaboration with AIIMS Delhi. Guide in policymaking On the setting up of the NTHRI, the government said this institute was meant to be an 'advanced research centre for diseases particularly predominant among tribal people'. It would be expected to guide the government in policymaking in addition to its functions as an outpatient/inpatient facility for providing 'highest quality medical care to tribal people'. Currently, the Tribal Affairs Ministry's guidelines for managing SCD cases amongst tribal populations entailed a process involving screening, management and counselling. Under the government's programme run in collaboration with the Health Ministry, over 5.8 crore people had been screened for SCD across the 17 target States for SCD mission. Of these, about 16.38 lakh people or close to 2.82% were found positive for SCD traits and a total of about 2.1 lakh people were found to be having Sickle Cell Disease. The proportion of people identified with SCD comprise about 0.36% of total screenings.
Time of India
11 hours ago
- Health
- Time of India
Govt announces Rs 10-crore prize for new drug to treat sickle cell disease
The government is awarding Rs 10 crore to develop a sickle cell disease drug. This initiative addresses the disproportionate impact on tribal populations. The goal is to eradicate the disease by 2047. A competition with AIIMS-Delhi will select the best drug proposal. A Centre for Tribal Health will be established. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The government on Thursday announced an award of Rs 10 crore to develop a drug for the treatment of sickle cell disease , which disproportionately affects India's tribal populations. Sickle cell disease is a group of inherited blood disorders that affect haemoglobin , causing red blood cells to become sickle-shaped and block the blood flow, which can lead to serious complications such as stroke, eye problems and Minister Narendra Modi launched the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Eradication Mission on July 1, 2023, with the aim of eradicating the disease by 2047. The government aims to screen seven crore people up to 40 years of age as part of the an event to mark World Sickle Cell Day here, Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Durgadas Uikey announced the institution of the Bhagwan Birsa Munda Prize for the development of a drug to treat the minister said there is only one drug available as of now for the management of the disease. There is currently no option to select a drug from a range of alternatives based on the patient's body conditions and severity of the said this problem is worsened in special situations like pregnancy or the presence of other serious medical conditions. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a new tribal affairs ministry, in collaboration with the AIIMS-Delhi, will undertake a competition for the development of the drug. The selected proposal will be funded up to Rs 10 crore, Uikey also said the ministry will establish a Centre for Tribal Health and Research Institute under the centre will also have outpatient and inpatient facilities for providing the highest-quality medical care to tribal people. Provisions for seamless referrals from peripheral hospitals in tribal-dominated areas will be explored, he centre will also guide the government in policy minister said a postgraduate course in tribal medicine will also be will help address the long-standing health inequities faced by tribal communities, who often remain underserved due to geographical, socio-cultural and systemic barriers, he specialised course will be designed to develop a cadre of medical professionals with contextual knowledge, clinical skills and public health competencies tailored to tribal settings.
