India Co-Hosts the Launch of OneSCD, a Global Sickle Cell Disease Partnership, at the 81st UN General Assembly

24 September 2026National

India co-hosted the launch of OneSCD, a global partnership on sickle cell disease care and equity, on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly session in New York. Punya Salila Srivastava, Secretary in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, represented India and set out the National Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission — launched in 2023 with a target of eliminating sickle cell disease as a public health problem by 2047, the centenary of independence. Sickle cell disease is an inherited haemoglobin disorder concentrated heavily among India's tribal populations, which makes the mission as much a tribal-health programme as a genetic-disease one.

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Sickle cell disease: Autosomal recessive disorder caused by a beta-globin gene mutation | World Sickle Cell Day: Observed on 19 June each year | UN General Assembly: One of six principal UN organs, seated in New York

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