India, July 22 -- Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) can generally be perceived as a distant health issue, discussed mostly through statistics or policies. But behind every number is a human story - of disrupted childhoods, overwhelmed families, and daily fights that go unnoticed. At the 2025 National Sickle Cell Summit, two young individuals, Lalit Kishor Pargi from Rajasthan and Swati Panika from Madhya Pradesh, offered something far stronger than data - their lived experience. Their accounts represent change, not just survival. In sharing their stories, they are helping to transform the way Sickle Cell and other similar inherited disorders are viewed in India.

Lalit Kishor Pargi first heard the term Sickle Cell Disease when he was sixteen year...