Incidence and prevalence of sickle cell trait and disease in Madhya Pradesh, with special reference to Eastern Madhya Pradesh and Singrauli district

Madhya Pradesh carries one of the largest burdens of sickle cell disease (SCD) in India, concentrated largely among its scheduled tribe, scheduled caste, and other backward class communities. This article synthesises published epidemiological and clinical data on sickle cell trait and disease in Madhya Pradesh, with particular attention to the eastern districts of the state-including Singrauli, Sidhi, Shahdol, Rewa, and Anuppur-where tribal concentration and endogamous marriage practices sustain a high carrier frequency. Demographic data from the 2011 Census are used to contextualise the disease burden in Singrauli district, and district-level screening trends are discussed alongside the clinical and haematological profile of sickle cell anaemia (SCA) and sickle-beta thalassaemia (SBT) reported from Central India. In addition, four years (2022-2025) of institutional high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-and solubility-based screening data from the Department of Pathology, District Hospital, Singrauli are presented and interpreted in light of the referral-biased, non-population-representative nature of hospital-based testing.