In 2006, the World Health Organization recognized sickle cell disease as a global public health problem. Sickle cell is not just a genetic blood condition, but a multisystem disease that can damage organs and shorten life spans. Moderate or severe forms can be especially virulent. While some…

A cohort of African health ministers, with support from the African regional office of the World Health Organization (WHO), has opened a campaign to improve sickle cell disease (SCD) awareness, prevention, and care in that continent, where most SCD patients reside. The effort seeks to curb the blood disorder’s…

Health-related stigma, as I discussed in my last column, is not the only stigma that afflicts those with sickle cell disease. There’s another stigma attached to it, one more localized, that can still have a detrimental effect on the patient. I’ll refer to this as culturally influenced…

A team of researchers led by UNC Project-Malawi has been given a one-year, $500,000 grant to build clinical and research infrastructure that will improve diagnosis and treatment for children living with sickle cell disease (SCD) in Malawi. Malawi is a country located in sub-Saharan Africa. Each year…

The SECURE-SCD registry, which is collecting de-identified data on individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD) who develop COVID-19, will be expanding to include information on children and adults in Africa. The expansion was funded by a $100,000 grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (DDCF) awarded to…

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will each invest $100 million over the next four years to speed the development of affordable gene therapies for sickle cell disease (SCD) and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) on a global scale.

A Republic of Congo delegation of health and higher education representatives recently met with Howard University officials, aiming to ultimately advance research into sickle cell disease (SCD) — a particularly pervasive disorder in Africa. Led by Congo Minister of Health and Population Jacqueline Lydia Mikolo and Minister of Higher…

A simple blood test and other measures could help halt the rise of sickle cell anemia in Africa and prevent fatal complications, especially among children, a World Heath Organization (WHO) official said this month. People living in Africa make up some 66 percent of the approximately 120 million people…

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, Texas Children’s Cancer and Hematology Centers and Baylor College of Medicine plan to jointly create a treatment network for children with cancer and blood diseases in three sub-Saharan African countries. The $100 million initiative, Global HOPE (Hematology-Oncology Pediatric Excellence), aims to build the medical capacity needed to diagnose and properly…