Bringing innovation to sickle cell disease patients in sub-Saharan Africa

At the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research in Accra, Ghana, lab scientists screen blood samples of newborn babies in a sickle cell lab. A laboratory shaker oscillates back and forth at one end of the room while a dozen or so scientists clad in white overalls are bent over their workstations. Together they are analyzing the samples to look for the sickle cell gene.

Sickle cell disease is a genetic red blood cell disorder that, if present, can be diagnosed at birth. Unfortunately, this is often not the case in countries with weaker health care systems. While complications and symptoms depend on each individual, lifelong management is usually required to tackle common symptoms such as anemia, ulcers, acute chest syndrome, and recurring pain episodes — caused by the clogging of blood vessels by misshapen red blood cells.

According to the World Health Organization, around 5% of people globally are “healthy carriers” of hemoglobin disorders like SCD, but that number rises to 25% in some regions.

Of the children born with SCD, 75% to 85% come from Africa. Many go undiagnosed and don’t survive, according to professor and Dr. Kwaku Ohene-Frempong, president at the Sickle Cell Foundation of Ghana and program coordinator of the National Newborn Screening Program for Sickle Cell Disease.

Devex looks at a public-private partnership — the Africa Sickle Cell Disease program — launched in 2019 that’s trying to change this.

Access this visual story. Join Devex on the ground in Ghana as we explore how the country, in partnership with Novartis and others, is spearheading efforts to tackle SCD.