I have been involved with the sickle cell anemia program in India since the last 45 years. The condition was first diagnosed in India in the Nilgiri Hills in Tamil Nadu in 1952 and from 1952 to 1978 research was carried out for dissertations and theses published in journals.
In Gujarat, the first patient, a tribal, was diagnosed by me in 1978 at Valsad. As this is a genetic disease and found mostly amongst tribal people, I realized that these patients will never spend their own money in going to the laboratory and if their blood is not tested, they will be......