Kyoto, August 31 (PTI): Japan on Sunday agreed to work with India in developing a treatment for the Sickle Cell Anaemia after Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought help for finding remedy to the deadly disease commonly found among tribals in India.
Modi, who has been keenly looking for a remedy to the disease since his days as Chief Minister of Gujarat, discussed the issue with Nobel Prize winner for Medicine (2012) S Yamanaka when he visited the Kyoto University.
Yamanaka is also the Director of the University. The Prime Minister, on the second day of his tour, raised the issue during his visit to the Stem Cell Research facility and discussed whether Japan could be of help in this regard.
“I wanted to understand stem cell research because cultural heritage matters as much to me as scientific heritage. I want to integrate both to make India a developed country. It was a good opportunity for me,” Modi said.
The Prime Minister discussed the possibility of cooperation in finding a treatment for the disease, said External Affairs Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin.
Sources said the Japanese side said it would work with India in jointly finding the treatment.
The sources said Modi, since his days as Gujarat Chief Minister, has been trying to see if any solution could be found to the disease but has been helpless as no cure has been invented yet.
