Parliament Question: Prevalence of Anaemia and Sickle Cell Disease

GOVERNMENT OFINDIA MINISTRYOFHEALTHAND FAMILYWELFARE DEPARTMENT OFHEALTH AND FAMILYWELFARE LOK SABHA UNSTARREDQUESTION NO. 2438 TOBE ANSWERED ON 13thFEBRUARY,2026 PREVALENCE OFANAEMIAAND SICKLE CELLDISEASE

2438.SHRITATKARE SUNILDATTATREY:

Will the Ministerof HEALTH AND FAMILYWELFAREbe pleasedtostate:

(a) the specific targets and timelines fixed by the Government under Anaemia Mukt Bharat

(AMB) and the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission for reduction in the prevalenceof anaemia andsickle celldisease, includingbaseline year-wisetargets;

(b) the budgetary allocation made for Anaemia Mukt Bharat and the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission for the financial year 2025–26 and the details of the component-wise andState-wise proposed utilisationof these funds;

(c) the measures being taken by the Government to strengthen the distribution, coverage and adherence of Iron and Folic Acid (IFA) supplementation among young children and pregnant women, particularlyinMaharashtra; and

(d) whether the Government proposes to scale up screening, including newborn screening, genetic counselling and comprehensive care for sickle cell anaemia in high-burden districts and if so, the details thereof along with the monitoring and evaluation framework being used bythe Ministry toassess the impactof such interventions? ANSWER THE MINISTER OFSTATE IN THE MINISTRYOFHEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SMT. ANUPRIYAPATEL)

(a) to (d): The Government of India implements Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) strategy in a life cycle approach across the country, including the State of Maharashtra, to reduce prevalence of anaemia among six beneficiaries - children(6-59 months), children (5-9 years), adolescents (10-19 years), pregnant and lactating women and in women of reproductive age group (15-49 years) in life cycle approach through implementation of six interventions via robust institutional mechanism. These six interventions include Prophylactic Iron and Folic Acid (IFA) supplementation, Deworming, Intensified Behavioural Change Communication campaign, Testing for anaemia and treatment as per anaemia management protocols, mandatory provision of IFA fortified food in public health programmes and addressing non nutritionalcauses of anaemia especiallymalaria,fluorosis andhemoglobinopathies.

Under National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission (NSCAEM), screenings in the targeted age group of 0-40 years are conducted at all health facilities from District Hospitals

(DH) uptoAyushman Arogya Mandir (AAM) levelinaffected17tribal states for diagnosis ofSickle Cell Disease (SCD). As per SCD portal, more than 6.83 crore screenings have been conducted in tribal dominated areas of the country as on 03.02.2026. A total of 2,37,981 individualshave beenidentified asdiseased and19,32,500ascarriers, ason03.02.2026.

State/UT-wise State Programme Implementation Plan (SPIP) approvals and expenditure for Anaemia Mukt Bharat and Blood Services & Disorders including Sickle Cell Anaemia under National HealthMission (NHM) for F.Y. 2025-26 inthe countryisat Annexure.

Hydroxyurea hasbeen includedinNHM Essential Drugs List at allhealth facilitiestoaddress the issue of access to medicine. Patients living with SCD are provided with the following services/ facilities for improving their quality of life through AAM- Sub Health Centres

(SHC)andAAM- PrimaryHealthCentres(PHCs): • Follow-upof diseased individualsat frequent intervals. • Counseling regardinglifestyle management,pre-marriage andpre-nataldecisions. • Nutritional supplementationsupport through distribution of folic acidtablets.

• Conductingyoga andwellness sessions. • Management of crisis symptoms andreferral tohigherfacilities.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has devised the cost norms for establishment of Centresof Excellence(CoE) onSCDfunded by Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) invarious states. 17 CoEsin15states have beenapproved byMoTA.

ThroughMoTA, awareness andcounseling material have beendevelopedanddisseminated to the States & UTs. Through monthly Ayushman Arogya Shivirs, awareness is raised for varioushealthprogrammesincluding SCD.

Under NHM, the performance of various health programmes is regularly assessed, through review meetings, mid-term reviews of key deliverables, field visits of senior officials, promoting performance by setting up benchmarks for service delivery & rewarding achievements etc. Common Review Missions (CRM) are conducted annually to assess and monitorthe progress andimplementation status of variousschemes.

*****Annexure referredtoinreplytoparts (a)to(d) of LokSabhaUnstarred Question No. 2438 for replyon 13.02.2026 Annexure State/UT-wise SPIPApproval and Expenditure for Blood Services & Disorders and Anaemia Mukt Bharat underNHM for F.Y.2025-26 (Rs.inLakhs) S.No. State/UT AnaemiaMuktBharat BloodServices&Disorders SPIPApproval Expenditure SPIPApproval Expenditure 1 Andamanand 53.77 15.07 54.61 1.47 NicobarIslands 2 AndhraPradesh 9,188.34 2,601.39 1522.34 1595.61 3 ArunachalPradesh 1,680.52 86.70 173.73 36.17 4 Assam 2,984.23 368.18 1818.51 76.84 5 Bihar 11,301.80 4,652.66 1750.88 1112.63 6 Chandigarh 4.16 0.12 4.64 2.82 7 Chhattisgarh 5,550.65 853.47 6612.69 316.79 8 Dadra&Nagar 74.51 8.44 7.50 0.00 Haveli andDaman &Diu 9 Delhi 1,141.12 148.73 2714.35 0.00 10 Goa 114.05 11.68 0.00 0.00 11 Gujarat 8,394.39 1,070.56 1857.16 88.61 12 Haryana 2,469.05 221.22 380.05 6.44 13 HimachalPradesh 804.50 96.67 294.50 112.44 14 Jammuand 1,327.57 136.99 489.99 0.64 Kashmir 15 Jharkhand 9,298.37 2,605.34 1730.98 1169.52 16 Karnataka 2,070.06 131.89 4106.18 1116.55 17 Kerala 2,512.75 620.13 5521.39 4599.98 18 Ladakh 58.44 15.36 32.55 0.46 19 Lakshadweep 9.42 0.85 2.10 0.00 20 MadhyaPradesh 11,397.15 1,361.12 6406.08 12415.14 21 Maharashtra 10,308.58 724.73 12860.55 2160.70 22 Manipur 934.69 50.03 510.06 240.31 23 Meghalaya 928.50 90.96 353.27 63.94 24 Mizoram 268.89 27.41 30.61 7.11 25 Nagaland 438.48 130.78 110.90 0.00 26 Odisha 2,636.93 1,345.31 5401.05 1494.28 27 Puducherry 206.76 32.67 17.66 0.00 28 Punjab 2,434.81 45.78 7554.84 0.20 29 Rajasthan 7,981.26 203.33 7690.83 375.38 30 Sikkim 80.95 23.67 9.01 3.83 31 TamilNadu 600.25 158.66 7432.68 5098.18 32 Telangana 4,586.60 - 4640.75 0.00 33 Tripura 823.57 201.36 36.31 36.29 34 UttarPradesh 31,418.36 681.82 42749.12 291.72 35 Uttarakhand 1,862.52 87.58 610.53 825.82 36 WestBengal 6,941.85 1,390.24 8162.51 1993.58

Note:

1.TheabovedataisasperavailableFMRsassubmittedbyStates/UTsandisprovisional.

2.ExpenditureincludesexpenditureagainstCentralRelease,Staterelease&unspentbalancesatthebeginningoftheyear.

ExpenditureisasperFMRssubmittedbyStates/UTsandisprovisional.Theexpenditurew.r.t.flexiblepoolforRCH,etc.is updatedup-to30.11.2025exceptforPunjab(updatedupto31.07.2025),Haryana,Delhi,Lakshadweep(updatedupto

31.08.2025),AndhraPradesh,Sikkim,Goa(updatedupto30.09.2025)&TamilNadu(updatedupto31.10.2025). *****