New Delhi: The Centre’s advanced child health screening programme, RBSK 2.0, is facing criticism from a national group of doctors with disabilities who say it expands coverage but fails to address disability as a core priority – potentially leaving millions of children out of early diagnosis and care.In a memorandum to the Union Health Ministry, Doctors with Disabilities: Agents of Change, a group of health professionals, said that despite legal mandates and a global shift towards a rights-based health framework, the revised Rashtriya Bal Swasthya Karyakram (RBSK) does not meaningfully include disability. The letter was signed by Professor (Dr.) Satendra Singh on behalf of the group.The program continues with the “4Ds” framework – birth defects, deficiencies, diseases and developmental delays – but does not explicitly include disability. The 124-page guidelines document does not mention the word “disability”, raising concerns over compliance with the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act, 2016.Experts say conditions recognized as disabilities under the law – such as thalassemia, sickle cell disease and haemophilia – are not integrated into screening frameworks, despite significantly contributing to chronic disease and lifelong disability. India accounts for about 10% of the global thalassemia burden, with an estimated 1-1.5 lakh children affected.This omission is a step back from RBSK 1.0, which included hemoglobinopathy screening on an optional basis. Their expulsion comes even as the government is running parallel programs like the National Sickle Cell Eradication Mission.The Group also highlighted the absence of disability indicators in program monitoring and lack of linkage with Unique Disability IDs (UDIDs), thereby weakening accountability.Public health experts stress that prompt testing is important. Globally, almost one in ten children is living with a disability, and they are eight times more likely to die before the age of 17, underscoring the need for early identification and care.They argue that integrating disability into screening is feasible and low-cost. Point-of-care tests for conditions such as sickle cell disease require minimal training and can be deployed in rural settings. Global bodies, including the World Health Assembly, have emphasized universal newborn screening.The collective has urged the government to explicitly include disability, integrate all specified disabilities under the RPWD Act, link with national registries and expand the framework to include persons with disabilities in program design and training.